More Finecast Lord of the Rings from Games Workshop
November 26, 2011 by brennon
Lord of the Rings gamers can let up a slight cheer that Games Workshop has not forgotten them this coming December. A lot of their old models have been converted into Finecast which you can see below.
But my favourite of the lot has to be this beauty. Perfect fodder for a D&D dungeon this, as are most of the Lord of the Rings range in my opinion. The Dragon!
I am quite a fan of a lot of the models from the Lord of the Rings games. The actual game itself is pretty nifty too, even if not many people seem to play it nowadays.
Any of these models you are considering picking up?
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If the rule system was less stupid, would more people play this game? That was the general consensus among the local crowd at my old shop. I’ve always appreciated the attention to scale / proportion that they use with these minis. (No outrageously sizes weapons, hands and feet in proportion, etc…)
Ouch! “Less stupid”? King of shocking that your local crowd thinks that! The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game is, in my opinion, one of the best rules systems ever produced by Games Workshop. If you’re referring to War of the Ring, I’ve never actually played that, but I’ve read the basic rules, and they didn’t seem stupid to me either. I personally think the LotR range has the most beautiful miniature range, most easily comprehensible rules, and is the cheapest to collect and play. Also, of the above, the Sauron and King Elessar models were actually released with… Read more »
Sorry to step on your wee hobbit toes my friend! LOTR sales are generally much lower than 40k, and lower still than fantasy. So the numbers speak for themselves. Mind you, Iv’e never gone along with the notion that popularity is indicative of quality. Most of the 40k players are just gun nuts, so maybe it doesn’t cross because its not sci fi, but the people I know that play both fantasy and 40k really thing the LOTR rules are just too simple. I agree with you about the mini’s though. The quality and scale uniformity is great. Thank the… Read more »
For sure the sales are lower, and GW support for the range is increasingly dwindling (hasn’t been a “new” release in over a year), as implied in this post with “Games Workshop has not forgotten” LotR gamers. All of us LotR gamers and collectors are looking forward to the Hobbit releases, likely in about a year. As for the game’s simplicity, I think that’s a case of “to each their own”– I enjoy its relative simplicity, and in fact, my favorite rules system is Warmaster, so much fun and quite simple. Conversely, I just can’t get into Warhammer Fantasy as… Read more »
LOTR SBG rules are hardly stupid, if anything they are extremely clever. Being a simple set of rules, you have to learn tactically how to play to be able to win. Most people, including me, gave up after the first couple of games (especially if Demo’d by GW as they don’t use the full rules) as it was seen to be to simple with the highest die roll wins combat system, but deep down it is so much more than that. After a few more games I learnt the error of my ways and have been playing it for the… Read more »
The models did fine in metal, but that´s besides the point now, isn´t it? ^^ If they would make them cheaper, collecting models like the Dol Amroth Pikemen for WOTR would be easier possible.
The game itself is given too few credit. I always thought it to be stupid as well (or at least not my cup of tea) but after giving it an actual try, it turned out to be quite a good game. And cheap to collect indeed (comparatively). We now play on an on and off basis.
I find it ironic that the only GW system I have loads of figures for is LOTR- but Im selling them all off. Why? cos no one wants to play and Im trying to wean myself off GW systems. Im going to keeep/pick up a few metal minis if I can for rpg use and maybe the odd game I think they should have launched WOTR first, then they would have sold loads of figures for mass battles then they could have gone to skirmish rules as demand tailed off. Talking to the kids they just dont get LOTR and… Read more »
Its good to see that GW has not dropped LotR line.
For me it is a pity that LoTR is a GW game and therefore boycotted
TBH have seen some ridiculous flak on Dakka for LoTR which I have never understood.
The range of miniatures imho is the best that GW produce and I enjoy playing the game.
Now the Finecast problems have apparently been sorted out it is no bad thing except the inevitable price hike that other companies manage to avoid when shifting production to resin.
@Terbormills
The kids at our library club got into LoTR earlier this year, partly in anticipation of the Hobbit
The good/evil duality wasn’t a problem for them.
@chibi glad to hear
LOTR is a fine game with excellent minis (the odd dodgy sculpt aside)
I hope The Hobbit may help generate a little surge in interest from gamers and GW
I think if Jackson does the battle of five armies right, it should. I know that scenario is already available in epic scale as a specialist game, but I think it will probably get a write up to regular scale. But then again, the size of that fight is WOTR scale, and as seen here, most people don’t like it. Also depends on Weta, if they produce some really excellent costumes for their armies. The hobbit to me just doesn’t have the scale of LOTR. It’s a smaller story, in terms of conflict. Be nice to see a Smaug sculpt… Read more »
AFAIK the Hobbit will be in two parts so the battle will be in the second film.
From what I have seen of the cozzies for the dwarves
I CAN’T WAIT! lol
For me the problem with LoTR as the third gw system is that its a lot more rigid with regards to the fluff or creating oddball armies, and the different scale and style of sculpt has always set it apart as the red-headed step-child of the three core systems. A lot of people-myself included- also look back and see that around the time the licence was signed in 2001 is around the time GW moved from being a hobby store to a corporation who sell products hobbyists, and frankly when the rot set in and White Dwarf became unreadable. I’ve… Read more »
Personally, I think the worm first turned for GW after the management buyout in 91, and then really went south in 94 when they went public on the London exchange. The rules for both games were simplified, and the marketing shifted to kids. The presence of the old guard on the creative staff side kept the shift to a slow avalanche. LOTR was just an opportunity to ride the mass publicity wave. They knew what they were getting into with the IP limitations – restriction of army type, etc, but you make a great point. In Fantasy and 40k the… Read more »
Mantic effectively halved the price of the metal models they made resin by doubling the number of models in the box, I know that’s not really the same as dropping the price, but still its better value. The only other switch from metal to resin I can think of off hand is Privateer Press, looking at the man o war demo unit, in metal its 3 men for $49.99 RRP, in resin-plastic its $44.99 for 5, the jacks don’t always match up well enough to compare the prices since the resin ones come out a little bit bigger/bulkier and have… Read more »
Personally the problem with GW and its contract for the LOTR IP for a table top game was that they really didn’t want GW to profit from this venture. Why else would they insist that it be a different scale than any game GW has released before? As well as you where never allowed to cross models over, even for conversion purpose. What I was looking for in the LOTR line was to have the chance to play a LOTR army in the warhammer fantasy game. But because it was so strict with GW they never allowed cross over of… Read more »
That begs the question, why did GW get the rights for The Hobbit. Also it is somewhat ironic claiming that LOTR want to retain control of the brand image in relation to GW. GW are control freaks themselves and if LOTR was such an albatross they would have just slung it overboard. I really don’t see how more GW control would sell more unless you are suggesting that the models should be designed by GW’s studio. That would bear no relationship to the film and New Line’s desires. The thought of the films’ excellent production design being reinterpreted by GW… Read more »
As for design, yes New Line has every right to image the LOTR as they wish. My point was not on that merit, but on the ability to say swap LOTR elves in place of WHF elves. I tell ya I seen some real nice conversions of deamon princes with the balrog enter painting comps and where by far the best, but be disqualified JUST because it has LOTR content. It’s from the same bloody company! In any case I have no say in what they do. It’s GW’s money to flush down the drain. It’s beyond me why they… Read more »
Or smaller producers like Black Scorpion have at least stuck to their prices when they did the switch
Back to the topic at hand- I do like the LoTR game – should really pick it up again, but have yet to even look at the WoTR
yeah thing is part the reason I play is because its SBT is skirmish so its different…thats why I never got into WoTR, still play SBT very occasionally.
9 tiny Ring Wraiths for £50.
Go fuck yourself GW.
Yes but they have been forged from special resin mined from deep in the Misty Mountains.
It cost a fortune having to hire mercs to fight goblins, trolls and Balrogs
What gets me is that even though there are only 9 of them in existence, and GW has produced specific models for all nine of them- even the ones who’s histories they made up- they only made 6 poses for the movie styled ones, and for the extra work you have to do on a finecast mini to fill the bubbles, straighten the bits that got bent cos they came out of the mould too soon and get rid of the masses of flash, you get to pay 8 quid more than the metal ones.
If you find bubbles just return it to GW. I’ve got a a batch of finecast with almost no bubbles. If you find something with a bubble in a bad place, take it back to GW and tell them to replace it or you’ll make a big fuss, after all, you don’t buy a car and expect to find holes in it. Dito with their products. Finecast is outstanding and I am happy paying for the material, which clearly *is* something special. But I look at the costs of these items and there’s little consistency. These guys are small and… Read more »
Goodness gracious. I just checked the US price–$74.25. First thought, “Is this a mistake?” The Fellowship boxed set is $56–why is there a $20 price difference for nine less detailed, similar looking miniatures? Glad I’ve already got the Ringwraiths in metal…
Maybe Finecast is refined from Mithril 🙂
Oh, so that’s how they make chainmail from it – it already has the holes… 😉
Does the more realistic scale of the LotR minis match the Mantic scale for KoW?
Not really, the LoTR minis are a still bit smaller, Mantics stuff is roughly in scale with 40k and Squarebase, bit the sculpts are less bulky.
Mantic elves and orks are smaller than GW in scale. Mantic dwarfs are bigger (much bigger) than GW dwarfs. The skeletons are in between GW’s original larger skeletons and the newer “Pirates of the Caribbean” skellies. I’ve not held a LotR mini but I can logically infer that the Lotr Elves are more to scale with Mantic’s elves than Mantic’s elves are in scale with High Elves. However the Mantic Dwarfs are much more bulkier than anything LotR range has.
Scale’s all over the place.
Id rather use LOTR dwarves than Mantic ones but the Elves arent that bad in the hand but I think are thin vs lotr ones whilst the Mantic undead are mosty totally awesome.
Like most twats I also thought LotR was “stupid”.. but after reading the rules and actually playing the game. They are quite elegant and deceptively simple. Its not without reason that people use the LotR rules for damn near every genre and time period. What came before and what will come next, I know not.. However, currently, its difficult to actually buy into the game and get started. GW has discontinued many (if not all) of the supplemental books. The miniatures themselves are all “direct only” now and can only be “special ordered” by retail outlets… “New” finecast (sigh) releases… Read more »
Yes they are similar in their simplicity to such a smart game system like Song of Blade and Heoes from Ganesha games (but without the turnover trick). Unfortunately, being a game workshop product means they’re not “open source” and you have to work much more to create profiles for new settings.
As this debate rages here I find myself not interested in Lotr, but mainly just for the odd scale. Who came up with that stupid idea? If all of us could use at least the bits I would have a lot less of an issue with Lotr, also it would sell more models
If I recall right idea was to make models look as much like actors and actresses in movies as possible and those were shown to actors and actresses that then had final word did models look enough like them. After all lot of those are based on what was seen in movies.
There is nothing wrong with the scale which is afaik 28mm
Personally I prefer true scale to heroic which looks stupid because of the silly proportions.
That is of course an aesthetic and subjective preference
Newline Cinema. They did not want WH & LOTR to be assiciated with each other, GW couldn’t even show pics in WD if LOTR figures were converted using WH bits.
I don’t think the scale was a stupid idea at all, but yes, it was required by New Line. It’s true scale–used by a lot of historical ranges, and meant to reflect actual real-life dimensions. Obviously, since these miniatures are based on a live-action film, it would only make sense for the range of the LotR minis to be true-scale. Warhammer is an imaginative fantasy, and is therefore heroic scale. Yes, LotR and Warhammer, while both 28mm fantasy games, are quite off–yet I have, on occasion, used bitz from my Warhammer minis with my LotR minis. But the fact is,… Read more »
I prefer the LOTR 28mm scale to the comic fat hand/head 32mm super heroic that GW seems to be doing these days…LOTR is harder to paint however due to smaller scale
I find LOTR SBT to actually be far more balanced and simple than other games. This avoids disputes and I’ve tended to find I have a much better time playing it than, say 40k, its more that the background (which is fantastic don’t get me wrong) can only be expanded so far. Hopefully the hobbit will breathe new life into it, but still that can only make it go so far. I can’t see how the rule system is ‘stupid’ since its a lot simpler than most other games – I think rules complications have happened about once or twice… Read more »
re background…I think 76 trilliion pages of quality background blows away any matt ward drivle
Similrillian, hoobit, LotR + history series vs codex v1 reissued with minor tweaks
KISS is a term GW could do with paying more attention to, simple rules but with difficult choices is the way to go
argghhh the spelling gods did not get my sacrifice
Beware! The dachshund dragon!…
ahem… well..
Seriously this dragon is original but I’ve never been fond of it.
One thing “surprises” me is that some of these releases are “troopers” and not heroes or monsters. Finecast is a very expensive replacement for troopers and even for war machines…
I’d guess that’s because they won’t sell well enough to justify a plastic kit.
I’m pleased to see the dragon in finecast but it’s only a tenner cheaper than the FW Carmine dragon. I think LoTR is going the way of collector’s models in preparation for the onslaught of the Hobbit. If they get a load of figures especially dwarfs in finecast they’ll be able to set a precedent on price and then take advantage while the films are about.
Cripes how much would the full set of the character dwarves cost?
iirc there are 12 of ’em plus Bilbo and Gandi
May need to raid Smaug’s hoard to be able to buy the set lol
Presume the set of heroes will be plastic rather than resin
Oh wow! More figures produced with no quality control what so ever with still no resolution regarding the bubbles in almost every figure made. Its really big of GW to say they will replace the defective item but who is covering your transport costs too and from the shop then? GW have not learnt anything other than people are sheep to be sheared. And sadly that is true. Having seen most of the ranges now slide towards this flawed material and still the clear absence of anything resembling quality control my money is going elsewhere thankyou. Oh and I did… Read more »
My son and I love the rules, they are elegant and unique. However, I will never pay $80 CDN for that dragon model. Don’t like the sculpt and that price is beyond what I consider value for my money. I have tons of proxies and we use them all the time in our games. My old Chronopia dwarves look great!
Actually, all of the Finecast prices are beyond what I consider value.