New Pelennor Fields Themed Middle-earth Strategy Boxed Game Coming Soon
July 16, 2018 by brennon
We all thought it was going to be on the cards and it is now a reality. A new Boxed Game is on the way for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game from Games Workshop. The Battle Of Pelennor Fields will bring together Rohan and the Warriors Of The Dead against the Witch King and his Orc horde.
When I saw the cover I wasn't entirely won over by it. I don't really like what they've done with the graphic design here at all. I know they have to use the artwork and assets from the films but this looks like a bad photoshop job. Whilst a box isn't that important it would have been nice to see something a little special for this.
Anyway, you want to know what you get inside the box. Well, at a recent Open Day the team behind the game showed off the forces included within...
Included within the box you get...
- King Theoden (On Foot & Mounted)
- 12x Riders Of Rohan
- 12x Warriors Of Rohan
- 20x Warriors Of The Dead
- The Witch-King Of Angmar On Fell Beast
- 36x Morannon orcs
- Mordor Troll
...and as well as all of that you get the accessories you need to play the game AND a new Rulebook which contains all of the updated rules for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle game as it will now be known.
The new model for Theoden is rather cool indeed and shows the King charging into his final battle at the head of his army. That scene still gives me chills when I see it, so moving! As well as the release of the new rules you will also soon be able to get your hands on the new Armies of The Lord Of The Rings book which contain rules for using forces (both Good & Evil) from the War Of The Ring.
Gondorian Reinforcements
As well as the forces of Rohan we also got to see some painted versions of the characters that will be crafted by Forge World. You might remember some of the render work for the likes of Ingold...
...and Huron The Tall.
They are supported in battle by some more of the Knights Of Dol Amroth who have come to fight alongside their Gondorian allies at the Pelennor Fields and on towards the Black Gate. They were there in great numbers during those final conflicts, even if we didn't get to see them on screen during the films.
The models are looking very nice and I can't wait to see them on the tabletop but I have to raise a question over the painting on these particular models. For some reason, all of the faces look like the characters are wearing make-up and they don't look natural at all. You can see it on Huron The Tall as well in the pictures above.
It's very strange. Obviously, the painting is better than I could ever achieve but it doesn't half make it look like the sculpts for the models don't contain enough detail and the painter has had to go in there and add it themselves.
With new Middle-earth adventures on the horizon which side will you be taking up?
Drop your thoughts below...
"With new Middle-earth adventures on the horizon which side will you be taking up?"
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Well this is nice surprise. This shows that GW isn’t going to cancel this system any time soon.
well, I used to love it 🙂 never finished the second army though, and the first one was just half the size I wanted it to become… this might be the right chance to finish what was started so many years ago 🙂
happy to see this coming out! keep feeling the urge to return to battle across middle earth 🙂
I love this game. Still think it is the best rules set GW ever made.
I am out though for 3 reasons.
I do not like resin for gaming pieces. For display ok, but I really want a more durable gaming piece
Second. The new sculpts are just not as good as the old range.
Thirdly the cost I’d to high.
I believe the core box is hard plastic
Well except Theoden all models seem to be old models which were plastic (not 100% sure on teh Witchking though).
Fairly sure the Witch King was plastic; in fact iirc the kit let’s you make him or a generic Wraith. You might be thinking of the previous version which was metal (might have been a metal and plastic combo – think the wings were plastic).
Good to know, and yes I did remember the metal one though I wasn’t sure if there was a plastic version.
I know, but when did any gamer just buy the starter set?
This set may be okay but with a massive chunk of the range in fine cast and all new stuff being forge world that does not help
It feels like GW is doing the required minimum to keep the license so another company does not get it. Really sad as I love this game.
This was a reply to jraldridge who was talking about the core which is very likely full plastic.
And I would say a massive junk of the range is in plastic if they revive all the old boxes, if I’m not mistaken most of the Lord of the Rings stuff before the Hobbit stuff released was already plastic, though I hope we will also see new plastic kits.
Most stuff was metal, then fine cast. There are plasic sets for most basic troops but not any characters or captains. With the exception of the plastic fellowship from the 4th starter.
Thats hundreds of models not in plastic.
I have really enjoyed the Lord of the Rings game system but at this point it is hard to find opponents.
I’ll be giving this set a miss but might pick up the rulebooks when they’re released separately; been wanting to get back into Middle-earth gaming for a long time and a new edition is good incentive. Disappointing that from what I can tell the only new mini in the set is Theoden, everything else is existing sets. Not a big loss for me though as a) I already have a considerable chunk of it, and b) if/when I get new minis for this I’ll be using alternative ranges to get something closer to my idea of the books rather than… Read more »
The rumoured price for the new box is £95. The RRP of the old models alone (i.e. excluding the new rulebook, Theoden, tokens, dice, etc.) comes to £188. Add in the expected retail cost of those additional items things and you could probably add another £70 or so to that. So it does represent good value for money, even if the old plastics are 10+ years old now. Obviously extending your collection beyond the starter box is more expensive, particularly if you want Forgeworld resin, but even so, that box is a good deal, particularly if you can get it… Read more »
I like the idea that they are putting out new stuff for this, going to ask in my GW tonight if they have plans to get games going in store. I’d love to get into this game more, I have a load of models but it’s just not got a scene here. Don’t know that a release with this many old models and only FW releases going forward will be enough but fingers crossed
what I’m wondering in all this, is if GW picked up the rights to do Lotr based on the upcoming Amazon tv series? Considering the funds pouring into that by Amazon (I think P. Jackson is a producer) it will add some interest into the property.
The officially “not denied” rumour is that GW are pursuing the Amazon licence. THis stuff is still on the Hobbit/LotR film and book licence though.
Theoden looks good. That almost sells me on this, no new games though for me.
Relly lovely bunch of mini’s there 😀 . However,i disagree with @brennon and his ” mini’s wearing make-up “,they look natural enough to me, have you been at the last of the Hobby Night Live gin @brennon 😛 ?
A great looking box fab figure’s so nice new Allies boxes on the horizon.
Any idea on cost for the Pelennor Fields box?
Spoke to my GW today and they said brig all plastic they expect some sets in at launch and possibly to have some as they do with Necromunda (which is also officially FW). In terms of other models/events/leagues, they just don’t know right now.
Another tempting box! Fortunatly for me, non of my friends are into LoTR on the tabletop 😉
I’m excited about both this set and Adeptus Titanicus. I had AT when it first launched, so heavy nostalgia there. LOTR was the game that brought me back to the hobby a couple of years back, picking up a cheap Goblin Town set at my FLGS. Heart over head here.
I think I’ll be picking this up
I don’t need most of the contents of this new set. I have more Rohirim and orcs than could reasonably fit on a 6×4 table. I’ll still be getting it though. Both for the plastic hero models and the new rulebook. I also want to support the game. After they failed to sell out the “limited edition” run of goblin town starter set, even after all these years, I think it’s important for fans to support the new edition.
I’m an avid collector of LotRSBG so its great that GW haven’t killed it off. Such a fun skirmish style game with some fantastic models!
Glad to see this. I like the cover, and the mounted Theoden. Not so keen on the foot version – he suffers from the ‘plastic’ look that quite a few of the old characters did. I really like Ingold, but am not particularly impressed by the rest. I hope this is the start of something much more bigger though.
This looks killer!
I’ll be getting this. I think its the best system GW made. Any news on release date?
End of August/early Sept is the rumour. I’m expecting Saturday 1st Sept as this fits GW’s release schedule.
You can buy Rohirim sprues for as much as 1€-2€ on ebay. Mordor orks and ghosts are a bit more expensive but still very cheap.
This box needs to be priced very reasonably to make any sense.
Could only find one sprue in that price range and it’s not a buy out. There is about £220 of product in that box and it’s likely to cost around £100 I’d imagine (that seems to be GW’s using price for system starter boxes nowadays). I’d say that’s a pretty good deal.
Only thing new is the rulebook, but at least the set might bring more players to the game!!
Used to love playing thes game, although generally smaller style games than this box supports. Some lovely models here, and great to see the Knights of Dol Amroth in greater numbers. If I had friends locally that played then I’d probably get back into it a bit, but so many games and so little time.