Lord of the Rings Reboot – Prepare for the Hobbit
January 28, 2012 by warzan
So we sat around until 2:30am killing time (and brain cells) on the chat discussing a range of intellectual topics, then @madcowcrazy dropped in 😉
Yes we are that fanatical about toy soldiers, not the Hobbit (yet) if I'm being honest, but definitely Toy Soldiers.
Anyway after a bit (over 2 hours lol) of a delay here is what all the fuss was about...
So, other than the above range of models (a whole heap of finecast - more news on that later) there are 5 new books:
- The Lord of the Rings: Kingdoms of Men
- The Lord of the Rings: The Free Peoples
- The Lord of the Rings: Mordor
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fallen Realms
- The Lord of the Rings: Moria & Angmar
We're told that focus is shifting back to the Strategy Battle Game and War of the Ring is acting like an Apocalypse Book. But this is only prep work for the real meat that is bound to start making its appearance soon.
The release for the Hobbit itself could be any one's guess at this stage, certainly GW know whats in the film and a certain two brothers have known for quite some time what's in the film and perhaps even seen early 'stuff'. (Beer is our best friend sometimes)
But what are the options, I would love a Dungeon Crawler Boardgame type thing for the Hobbit, but we are not expecting any 'boardgames' this year. But a big box game is almost a certainty (and probably more than one!)
The question is, knowing what happend the last time round (with LoTR Movies causing massive growth) where do we see the industry in the next two years?
Exciting times indeed, if Peter Jackson creates another runaway hit, and GW can do the same thing (i.e. a good game) might just get very busy.
So major movie tie in, Flames of War 3, Warhammer 40K 6th Ed are we looking at the biggest year in wargaming?
The long term is dependent on keeping the players this time though!
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It’s definately going to get very busy on my painting table this year.
I have stacks and stacks of non miscast, bubblefree metal Infinity miniatures to paint for me and my friends.
Absolutely love Lord of the Rings SBG. Glad to hear of the new books. I was wondering why GW had been getting rid of some of the old ones recently.
“The question is, knowing what happened the last time round (with LoTR Movies causing massive growth) where do we see the industry in the next two years?”
The real question is can GW avoid another LoTR bubble crash and be wise with the incoming cash. This could be very good for them if they’re careful.
Also – liking the Watcher in the Water. About time it was more than just those six disembodied tentacles (three sculpts doubled up). It’s a lot more money but now it’s a lot more gribbly beastie… 😉
Isn’t Strategy Battle Game generally thought to be a solid system and one of GW’s better games?
It is! Deservedly so.
War of the ring is a wel executed ruleset too, there just has been little point covering it without the movie hype.
Same thing will happen here I’m sure, well give a nice level of coverage then wonder what to do with it when the movies are done.
Hopefully GW, us and others can be more creative this time eh?
I love every single miniature shown here and on the website. That one horned beast is the same species as the ones that pulled the great battering ram in the third movie if I am correct. I am going to have to start building one then. My only one complaint is the price but that’s not a biggie. I am so glad that they are coming out with these because I thought they were going to scrap the game.
I am so glad this happend I was “this close” to selling my huge lotr collection!
This is a great release, revitalizing the LotR range, but I’m going to wait until the Hobbit to make any purchases from GW again.
At the prices GW is asking, I’m really happy I have a ton of the older, pre-nonsense expansions LOTR miniatures. Shame that some of those models are more than $10 a pop. I remember you could get a blister of 3-4 guys for that price when it first started.
I’d be more excited if they weren’t finecast – I have not yet much in the way of positive reviews of GW’s resin and I do not see myself shelling out that kind of money for that kind of quality.
I really like every finecast model I’ve got. I wished they’d done it 5 years ago. It’s just the price tag attached. The Watcher and Great Beast are both equivalent of 60 pounds for me.
I’ve got close to 1000 points of Gondor sitting on my shelf. A fair bit of it is real i.e. metal and not the “fine”cast. I just look at the prices and wonder what are they smoking? Really. They’ll come down once or twice a year maybe to get played with. Otherwise, I just have a real feeling of “meh” coming over me.
It’s kind of like your ex losing 20 lbs. She looks good but frankly, you are happy not having to put up with crap any more.
I liked the movies and most likely see the Hobbit when it comes out. But to play the game, I have my reservations. I still remember as many of you do as well the hype of the LOTR and yes many played it at first. But at my local GW store, by the second movie it was really rare to see anyone with it. Now you ask and everyone sold or just gave away it.
I hope this time will be better. One can only hope.
The question of a miniatures boom is an interesting one. While I think it is possible that the new Hobbit movie will help the hobby, I think it is just as likely that the doldrums of video gaming will help even more. I had a brief flirtation with miniatures about ten years ago, but gave it up when PC gaming caught on in a big way around 2003-2004. Been there ever since. But now I find myself drifting back to board games / miniatures because the current state of “iteration, not innovation” video games is just awful. I am sure… Read more »
Still have a ton of unbuilt LoTR models from the part works. Got to about 50 odd when I decided to call it a day but doubled up on some issues. It was the bait that hooked me into the hobby tbh I like the strategy game whatever the critics say about LOTR stopping 40K projects, which to me is bunkum and it’s not as if 40K is really neglected. Price is an issue so won’t be buying any more GW stuff despite the fact that Perry sculpts are the best that GW issue imho and the Hobbit stuff should… Read more »
I agree but if you want the Perry scupls – you could just take a look at their War of the Roses stuff under the Perry Minitures name
Agreed but I don’t play WoTR, I don’t play WoTR either if you see what I mean lol
The Perry Miniatures War of the Roses range can easily represent one of the many armies of Condor. Get a box of these and you pretty much have an army for the LOTR Strategy Battle Game.
GW’s Lord of the Rings miniatures are tied heavily to the look and atmospherics set by the movie trilogy. Which are quite different of how I personally envisioned the world of Middle-Earth when I first read the books. So you don’t have to ristrict yourself with the “official” minis.
On that point- apparently Tolkien saw the Riders of Rohan as Goths! So any Goth historical army could do for Rohan. I always saw Gondor as either Saxon or Norman myself- however almost any Perry mini is welcome in my house.
Sorry but I just don’t see the Rohan as having dyed black hair and eyeliner 😛
You’ve forgot to tell the prices went up again… 17.50€ now for 12 guys (instead of the usual 24), 35% increase.
I’m gonna get all the morannon boxes I can muster, as long the shops are still selling the old ones.
I also wonder what’s gonna be in the new scourcebooks. Is it a complete ‘makeover’ of the existing stuff, or the same but just repacked in a new suit.
I don’t know.
Also, damn you GW for forgetting that you’re supposed to make Tolkien’s creatures, not you’re own stupid idea’s… And then making those the best in the game.
I was mildly interested by the figures to be honest. Some nice poses and ideas there to start with. It is just a terrible crying shame that once more the images given that hint at nice quality molds are nothing close to the horrid reality of Failcast and the total absence of quality control that goes with it. There remains huge question marks over this substance and GW have not got it right yet. Yes they will exchange it but it leaves you with only one option. Take your magnifying glass with you to the shop and open every pack… Read more »
I bought a load of second hand LotR stuff when, WotR cam out. I like both systems and I have a few friends who play but I can’t say it’s caught on, with me, in the same way as some other systems have.
The LotR system is solid but I’ve used it in the Legends of the Old West iteration more than any other.
I’m happy that this is getting some love again but I can’t see me buying any Finecast. However, I do hope they bring out a lot of good plastic for the games 🙂
I’m also not to keen on the idea of Army books… For this reason I’ll be sticking with the old rules. I better download all the stats soon!
Am a numpty so I missed the army book bit
Suppose at least they won’t be revamped every 3-20years or whatever the cycle is for any given army.
Don’t like army books tbh
nice to find a place were people are not going complaining about this release, cant wait my self 🙂
No complaints here? Ok, my turn then: 😉
The price rise for the plastic boxes was already a real shock, but now that I saw the prices for the Finecast command units, I’m simply wondering if they are really serious about that.
£24.00 for four (4!) dwarves? Really?
can we finally accept that Finecast DOES cost more, and that their increased cost over the original metal is nothing to do with the annual price hike. It’s in plain view now, well it was in plain view when Finecast was released quite frankly, but now the lie is even more transparent.
Finecast is sold at a higher cost than metal.
Is it just me or is that last picture same as first one.
No you’re right, my guess is one of them was supposed to the Easterling Dragon Knight which looks very similar and @warzan can’t copy and paste the right links 😛
SBG is a great, fun game but sadly hardly anyone plays it – GW puting the final nail in the coffin IMHO with War(hammer) Of The Ring. It feels a bit half-cocked to re-release stuff now, esp. as they are trying to sell less minis for the same price (so effectively killing off the idea of massive games in WhOTR). Also with the best will in the world, which gamer is going to pay over 40 quid for the watcher in the water?!
This version of the Watcher is neat looking, though to be honest it seems like something i’d be more likely to run into playing Call of Cthulhu than Lord of the Rings.
Lol, I was going to comment on how im not a LOTR fan but id buy the watcher for my CoC games 😀
I love lotr but this lot are not great imo and being in failcost means I have no issues deciding not to buy them.
My verdict on these models entering my house…None shall Pass
What does this mean for Legions of Middle Earth ?
What do the books actually contain ? Is it just lists/stats or what ? Are they in addition or in replace of ?
Agree with the above comments that GW shouldn’t be making their own creations as last time they did it was not in balance with the other figures.
There appears to be an 11.11% difference in the prices shown on Pages 55 & 55 in WD386 February 2012 and the price that is showing on the GW Website (and it’s NOT a price reduction). All the core “troop” boxes are dropping the the model count to 12 or 10, but WD has them priced at £12.00 and they are ALL showing as £13.50 on the website.
just checked here in AUS 12 moria goblins will cost $37. HaHaHa what an absolute %^&* joke
someone has put their head where it shouldn’t belong
did a bit of checking and it looks like the ‘old’ goblin price was $55 for a box of 24 so now at $37 for 12 that’s close to a 35% price increase. Don’t know how it works out in the UK.
Don’t know how any business can justify an increase of that level.
Guys, there’s some great discussion going on over at one-ring.co.uk and thelastalliance.com, for anyone who’s interested. I think this is a pretty great release, though I really don’t care for the back of the Watcher in the Water. I’m tempted by the Warg Marauder and I really like some of the new models included in the command sets, especially the Knight of the White Tower. The repackaging of infantry and massive increase in models, through both a price increase and Finecast, signals a clear marketing shift back from WotR to SBG, as the Hobbit will be including scenarios at a… Read more »