The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game

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Lord of the Rings SBG
Players 2 and up
Setup time < 10 minutes
Playing time 30 minutes to 1½ hours (approx.)
Rules complexity Medium-High
Strategy depth High
Random chance Medium-High
Skills required Strategy, Arithmetic, Dice rolling
It should be noted that the length of game play varies according to battle size, while rules complexity can vary with each army.[1] Also, although the game is designed for 2 players, larger battles can be played more easily with more players controlling some of the forces each.

The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (abbreviated as LotR SBG), often referred to by players as Lord of the Rings, is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is based on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, and the book that inspired it, written by J. R. R. Tolkien.

It was initially released in 2001 to tie in with the movie The Fellowship of the Ring. New box sets with updated rules were also released for The Two Towers and The Return of the King movies. Later Games Workshop also began to add content that was featured in the original book but not in the film adaptations (e.g. Tom Bombadil, Radagast and Glorfindel), first with the Shadow and Flame Supplement, and most recently with the Fall of the Necromancer Supplement. This was generally supported, but there were mixed reactions when Games Workshop invented characters and wrote histories for lands Tolkien wrote little about, such as Harad and Khand.

Games Workshop recently released a complete new edition of the rules in September 2005, entitled The One Rulebook to Rule them All, and a compact edition entitled The Mines of Moria. However, these were subjected to scrutiny because some profiles were omitted [2].

Contents

[edit] Licensing

Games Workshop has the rights to produce a skirmish wargame based on the films, and also on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books (The rights to produce a roleplaying game version of the films were sold to another firm, Decipher, Inc.). Though they also have the rights to produce a Battle of Five Armies game, the rights to the one-inch scale normally used by Games Workshop were already owned by another company. For this reason, the game was done in 10 mm scale for the normal warriors, and "heroic" scale for the named characters.

Although the contract between Games Workshop and Tolkien Estate is private, several aspects of it are known or speculated on. Games Workshop has not acquired the rights to The Silmarillion, which is currently the exclusive property of the Tolkien Estate. However, they were permitted to use Eorl the Young and Khamûl the Easterling (from Unfinished Tales) in their A Shadow in the East Supplement and Fall of the Necromancer Supplement, (perhaps in part due to their brief appearance in the appendices, which Games Workshop have the rights to). [5]

In the 1980s, Games Workshop also had an unrelated series of Lord of the Rings models. However, these were far below the standard of quality for the current range, and are not permitted for use in Lord of the Rings tournaments because of the legal situation in Games Workshop's current licence. [6]

[edit] The Hobby

[edit] Collecting

A boxed set of Gondorian Knights.
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A boxed set of Gondorian Knights.

Similar to Warhammer Fantasy players, Lord of the Rings players commonly collect and paint one army (or more) of their choice and find opponents (with similarly collected armies) to play against. Armies can be built up from through the purchase of boxed sets (usually having 20 or 24 plastic miniatures in each) or "blister packs" (usually containing no more than three finely detailed metal miniatures) to build up a reasonable sized fighting force. Others simply collect the miniatures because they like the way they look. One popular way of collecting is through Battle Games in Middle-earth — a DeAgostini magazine which comes with a free miniature (some of which are exclusive to the publication) and painting guide. [7]

As such, there are a wide variety of miniatures in the ever-growing range, including promotional miniatures, such as "Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai". Recently, Games Workshop began to discontinue some of their metal miniatures, so that they could replace them with plastic miniatures. They justified this action by saying that the quality in plastic moulding has improved to a point where they are almost as detailed as metal, and that plastic is cheaper to produce. However, there was much complaint when they inexplicably retired the popular "Boromir Captain of the White Tower" miniature, and it was later brought back into production.

There are a large number of differences with Warhammer in LotR SBG, which makes it unique and more realistic, accounting for its popularity as Games Workshop's third core system.

[edit] Modelling

Mixing parts from different models is a popular method of conversion (a converted Maeglin miniature [3]).
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Mixing parts from different models is a popular method of conversion (a converted Maeglin miniature [3]).

Since the models are hand-painted and assembled by the player, players are often encouraged to design their own paint schemes as well as using the pre-designed ones displayed in the various books. They are also encouraged to further modify their miniatures using parts from other kits and models (known as "bitz" to players), modelling putty, or whatever the modeller can scrounge up. These conversions are often entered into contests at sponsored tournaments and similar gaming events, such as the One Ring Awards.

Terrain is a very important part of play. Though Games Workshop makes terrain kits available, many hobbyists prefer to make their own elaborate and unique set pieces. Common household items like soft drink cans, coffee cups, Styrofoam packing pieces, and pill bottles can be transformed into ruins from the Second Age, woodland terrain, or the rocky wild of Middle-earth with the addition of plasticard, putty, and a bit of patience and skill.

However, due to the licensing agreements between New Line Cinema and Games Workshop, pieces of models for the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game are not allowed to be combined with other model lines for official tournaments or conversion awards. The same is true for pieces from other manufacturers.

[edit] Current state of play

The Shadow and Flame Supplement - the first Games Workshop supplement to feature content that was not in the films.
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The Shadow and Flame Supplement - the first Games Workshop supplement to feature content that was not in the films.

[edit] Overview of Rulesets

As of September 2005, the rules for Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game are in their fourth edition. The first three editions of the rulebooks were released with the Lord of the Rings films, but Games Workshop used White Dwarf and various Supplements to "go beyond what is presented in the films of The Lord of the Rings and delve into the rich material of J.R.R. Tolkien's books."[3] The current edition, The One Rulebook to Rule them All, contains the entire set of rules updated and presented in a single large volume, including those of previous supplements. The three older editions are to be re-released in updated supplements, while the compact Mines of Moria edition contains the updated rules only for what was shown in the films. Currently, the official editions of Rulebooks and Supplements include:

Legions of Middle-earth - an army building book.
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Legions of Middle-earth - an army building book.

For materials done under the previous iteration of the rules, there exist errata and FAQ files, to ensure potential rules conflicts between editions are resolved universally. [8]

There are also a number of unofficial Supplements that have been made by fans, including:

[edit] Legions of Middle-earth

As of August 2006, Games Workshop released the new expansion entitled "Legions of Middle-earth", centering around theming and army building. It is not a supplement or rulebook, as it contains no rules; instead, it provides army lists for players to theme their forces around, and scenarios which are designed to work in conjunction with them. However, Games Workshop also released supplement summaries online in conjunction with LoME [9], so effectively a player only requires LoME and the main Rulebook in order to use the rules of the supplements. Perhaps most interestingly, however, is that some of the miniatures for the point values listed have not yet been released; this way the book does not become obsolete with any future releases for some time.

[edit] Troop Types

There are two types of troops: Warriors and Heroes. Heroes have characteristics which set them apart from the Warriors they lead, and can be named or unnamed characters: Aragorn, Frodo, Captains, etc. Warriors are the core of the army: Warriors of Harad, Riders of Rohan, Men of Gondor, etc. Each army must be either Good or Evil, and can only include miniatures from that side (each model is named in the rules as being either Good or Evil).

As Tolkien's world is very rich in detail, players generally prefer to base their armies around one of the following themes:

[edit] "The Free Peoples" (Good)

  • A High Elf miniature.
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    A High Elf miniature.
    Elves (Good) - The Quendi are the oldest of the races of Middle-earth, and the majority of armies are either Wood Elves or High Elves, often allied with Men of Númenor from the Last Alliance. Elven armies have the best archers in the game, and are also notable for their potent powers of healing and foresight among Heroes such as Galadriel and Elrond. In earlier editions of the rules, Games Workshop kept the two kinds of Elves separate, and although the One Rulebook merges the two "races", they are most often kept separated into the two main themes [10]:
  • Elven Havens - The Elves of Eriador are considered the "High Elves" of the Last Alliance, and are not commonly seen in Third Age games. However, some of their Heroes, with the exception of Gil-galad, are used outside the Second Age.
  • Woodland Realms - Originally, the Wood Elves were limited to a small range of metal miniatures, but with the release of The Fall of the Necromancer Supplement, a boxed set of plastics was released. Wood Elves include the Lothlórien Elves (also known as Haldir's Elves) as their elite troops, but the bulk of their armies consist of the Taurdirim of Mirkwood. These armies can also include the members of the White Council, and Ents such as Treebeard. [11]
  • Gondor (Good) - The Kingdom of the White Tree has the widest range of warriors and heroes available. It can be divided into three main themes: Minas Tirith, Ithilien and Dol Amroth. Minas Tirith's key strength is in its armoured infantry, but it also has available mounted knights and the finest siege engines in the game: trebuchets and "bolt throwers". Minas Tirith armies often include elements from Ithilien armies, which has accurate archers. Dol Amroth is often considered to include the remaining fiefdoms of Gondor, boasting heavy cavalry (the only such available to Good armies) and courageous warriors, led by Imrahil. Dol Amroth is usually only combined with Minas Tirith in a Battle of the Pelennor Fields theme. A very small number of dedicated players also build their own ships of Pelargir or Dol Amroth out of wood and other materials.[4] Gondor is rarely allied with any armies other than Rohan. Some of its less common themes include [12]:
  • Númenor - Númenor is one of the smaller good armies related to Gondor, representing also the Númenórean Realms in Exile (ie. the Arnor and Gondor of the Second Age). Whilst it could be considered part of Gondor, it is only really used in Scenarios set in the Second Age (although sometimes its warriors can be used to represent Wardens of Pelargir). Númenor has a relatively limited range of warriors, but they are amongst the best warriors in the game, having access to the mighty heroes Isildur and Elendil. However, a note in the rulebook bans Númenórean armies to be used outside Second Age scenarios, so they are rarely seen in battle. Númenor is most frequently used with Elves, in Last Alliance-themed armies.
  • Army of the Dead - Perhaps the smallest Good army available, the Army of the Dead offers only one Hero and one Warrior type. They were accidentally omitted from the One Rulebook, so their rules can be downloaded through the Games Workshop website.[2] They are usually allied with Gondor or Dúnedain, and led by Aragorn and the King of the Dead for a Pelennor Fields theme.
  • Rohan (Good) - Armies of the Riddermark tend to focus on light cavalry, which are its core unit (though Rohan infantry are often used in Helm's Deep scenarios). These are armed with throwing spears, unique to Rohan, bows and shields. Earlier editions of the rules made these especially powerful, but the current edition has balanced the game by increasing the points cost. On the other hand, Rohan still has Royal Guard and medium heroes such as Éomer and Háma; in addition, it has benefited from the recently released Eorl the Young, and a number of new releases to the Rohan range such as Erkenbrand are expected with the upcoming The Two Towers Supplement. [13]
  • Dwarves (Good) - The Dwarves move an inch slower than the average man-sized warrior (making them easy to outmanoeuvre), but they have powerful bows and the highest defence in the game, making them a hard opponent. Their elite warriors are the Khazad Guard, and they have powerful heroes such as Gimli, Dáin and Balin. They make few alliances, and even then it is rarely with armies other than the Men of Dale. [14]
  • Hobbits (Good) - Armies of the Shire are more oriented around skirmishes, as pointswise they have the most inexpensive warriors and heroes in the game. Their archers are unmatched by all but the Elves, but their Hobbit militia are the slowest and weakest warriors in the game. Aside from the Fellowship of the Ring, they never ally with other armies because of their fear of the outside world. Their heroes include Frodo of the Nine Fingers and Samwise Gamgee. [15]
  • Dúnedain/Arnor (Good) - All Dúnedain and Rangers of the North are Heroes, making them expensive and rarely used. They are the prime example of an army that was excluded from the films, but was well-adapted by Games Workshop in a way that fit in with both the style of the films and their original mention in the books. Their two named Heroes are Aragorn and Halbarad Dúnadan, who are often allied with Gildor Inglorion and the Elves of Rivendell, or indirectly with Hobbits in some Scenarios. In the One Rulebook, the Dúnedain are classed in the same section as Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, though Tom and Goldberry are not allies but Scenario-specific characters from the Barrow-downs.

[edit] "The Forces of Darkness" (Evil)

  • Angmar (Evil) - The dark land of Angmar is built on the ruins of the Lost Kingdom of Arnor, terrorised by Nazgûl and Spectres. Its army has no official rules except for the Ringwraiths and Barrow-wights, which are nonetheless potent magic-users, and wild Warg, lead by Warg chieftains. It never allies with other armies, although Goblins and Orcs are sometimes included in it. [16]
  • Moria (Evil) - The subterranean realm of Khazad-dûm was built by the Dwarves, but it was taken by Evil. Now it is infested with Goblins and Cave Trolls, and more frightening creatures such as the Balrog are the centerpiece of Moria forces. Goblins are weak but inexpensive to field, making them numerous in games, and can be strengthened by Goblin Drums and Goblin Shamans. Moria never allies with other armies. [17]
  • Isengard (Evil) - The Army of the White Hand is a reliable and varied force to collect, featuring a number of unique warrior and siege options, such as crossbows (the most powerful bows in the game), pikes and a primitive form of explosive. Typical Isengard armies feature the Uruk-hai pikeblock, though they are often supported by medium cavalry in the form of Wargs, or spellcasters in the form of Uruk Shamans or even Saruman himself. Games Workshop has also been criticised for the future Two Towers Supplement allowing Isengard the option of a White Mountains Troll [18]. Isengard only ever allies with Dunland, which rarely fights on its own and is almost always classed under Isengard anyway. [19]
  • Mordor (Evil) - Legions of the Eye are made up of various warrior types. Their core unit is the Orc warrior on foot, bolstered by Morannon Orcs and Mordor Uruk-hai. They also offer Siege Catapults and ballistae with mantlets, led by Gothmog; these siege engines are often operated by Mordor Trolls, which can also be used as shock troops. However, the most dreaded element of Mordor armies is the Ringwraith on Fell-Beast, which, as a flying creature, can move around the board unimpeded and strike with dark magic. Mordor can be allied with any Evil army except Angmar or Isengard. Sauron is only ever fielded in person in campaigns set around the Last Alliance (or in Dol Guldur armies). [20]
  • Dol Guldur (Evil) - Dol Guldur armies form Sauron's troops from the time that he was hiding in Southern Mirkwood, and went under the name of the "Necromancer". There are two general themes by which players usually construct their armies. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is based around the fortress garrison of Dol Guldur, containing Sauron himself as the Necromancer, backed up by Castellans of Dol Guldur, and usually Orcs and the occasional Troll. The other way is actually more of a general evil army of Mirkwood, containing Giant Spiders led by the "Spider Queen". Both armies can include swarms of Giant Bats, and can be allied. Other themes include Spiders allied with wild Wargs to form an army of wild creatures, or allied with Moria to represent a force from the Mountains of Mirkwood. Their biggest enemy are the Elves - the Taurdirim and the Galadhrim. [21]
  • Harad (Evil) - The lands to the south are only briefly mentioned by Tolkien, and much of its forces have been invented by Games Workshop or Weta. It offers warriors and light cavalry that are inexpensive to field, and have poison arrows increasing their effectiveness against armoured warriors. Their most devastating miniature, however, is the Mûmak: the largest GW miniature ever, which in the game can trample enemy foot soldiers. Their invented heroes include Suladan and the hasharin. An alternative to the usual Harad army is that of Umbar, which uses Harad Warriors but involves corsairs.[5] There are a few Corsair models made by players, but they are a more common sight than Gondorian ships. [22]
  • Easterlings (Evil) - In previous forms of the rules, the Easterlings were pitifully weak, offering only three warrior types cast in metal, and not even appearing until the third edition of the rules. However, their range has been increased enormously with the release of A Shadow in the East. Games Workshop's Easterlings represent the Balchoth, and have been based on a combination of imagery from the New Line films and history of the Sassanid Empire. They offer the unique phalanx (the first army to have pikes since Isengard), and are the only Evil army to feature heavy cavalry, referred to as "kataphracts". Despite these licences, they fit in very much with Tolkien's works and those of New Line. They frequently ally with Khand or Mordor. [23]
  • Khand (Evil) - Tolkien wrote even less about Khand than he did about Harad, though we know that they had chariots and axes. Games Workshop has based their Variags of Khand on the Mongols and the Japanese, featuring sashimonos and the unique chariots. There is some disagreement as to whether this was the right thing to do. It is believed that Tolkien intended the Variags to be much like the Varangians (hence the axes), and that the Wainriders (another tribe of Khandish men) were logically intended to have chariots (a progression of the wains they had). The fact that Variags can be fielded as mercenaries hints to this. An artificial reason as been suggested to justify this: the Gondorians were unaware of the lands further east, and thus the names of the Variags and Wainriders had been mixed-up.[6] Khand allies with the Easterlings frequently.

[edit] Game Systems

The standard game is played with two or more armies on a board generally 4 feet long and 4 feet wide (48 inches or 120 centimetres), usually deployed within 6 inches of opposite board edges. Similar to Warhammer Fantasy, the game uses a "points-system" to assign values to each miniature, allowing players to ensure that their armies are evenly matched. The game is primarily a skirmish game, but can be played in varying scale:

  • Scenario - These are based on an event in the book or film, and the armies are predetermined and fought using Special Scenario-specific Rules [24].
  • Points Match - These are played between two forces of equal size, generally of 500 Points each (which is usually no more than 50 miniatures per side).
  • War Party - This is a stricter form of the Points Match, using forces of no more than 250 Points [25].
  • Battle Company - This is an experience-based system which is played out with no more than 25 miniatures [26].

The Turn system game is played using four phases:

  • Priority Phase - The players roll dice to see who gets to take their Turn first.
  • Move Phase - The players move their miniatures (to a maximum distance that is usually 6 inches).
  • Shoot Phase - Missile-armed miniatures can shoot.
  • Combat Phase - Dice are rolled for each group of miniatures in base contact with each other to see who wins the fight.

While the game is designed usually for play by only two players, very large battles (generally with more than 100 models each side) become easier to manage with more than one person working together on a team.

[edit] Differences with Warhammer

The Lord of the Rings SBG is sometimes mistakenly called "Warhammer Lord of the Rings" — perhaps in part because it is the third core game produced by Games Workshop, but possibly also because it combines fantasy-style battle traits from Warhammer Fantasy with the squad flexibility of Warhammer 40,000. (Another possible reason for this name is that "Warhammer Lord of the Rings" is faster to say than to give the game its full title). However, the Lord of the Rings is not related to the Warhammer Universe, and the differences can account for its popularity. Many Lord of the Rings players prefer it to Warhammer because it is less "cartoony", and say that the armies look nicer and more realistic when fully painted. The miniatures of the two Warhammer games are in a "heroic" scale, while LotR SBG miniatures are in realistic proportions.

Another key difference with Warhammer is that Lord of the Rings lacks some of the more complicated rules of the other two systems, making it the most flexible and realistic game by Games Workshop.[1] For example, the players take turns playing out one phase at a time, but in both forms of Warhammer, each player plays their full turn at once. Also, Warhammer Fantasy Battles miniatures are locked in block formations; Lord of the Rings allows freedom of movement for each individual miniature. [27] For this reason, the turn and movement systems of LoTR SBG are considered more realistic than those of Warhammer Fantasy or Warhammer 40,000, making it the easiest to learn, but "the hardest to master".[7]

In contrast, however, some Warhammer players frown on Lord of the Rings because they think the miniatures are geared too much towards skirmish and have armies that are not of a large enough scale (generally armies in LotR are no more than 600 points, while Warhammer usually has well in excess of 1000 point armies). However, it is a fact that the Lord of the Rings Mûmak is the largest plastic miniature Games Workshop ever created, and that the game does allow for larger pitched battles and sieges, such as the Battle of the Hornburg or the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

[edit] Online Community

Main article: Games Workshop Online Community
The promotional "Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai" miniature, released for The War of the Ring Campaign.
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The promotional "Gimli on Dead Uruk-hai" miniature, released for The War of the Ring Campaign.

There is also a large Games Workshop Online Community, with 2700 forum posts per day and 300000 registered users, and growing (this has been pointed out by some as being just under 0.005% of the world population, and equal to that of Iceland). It is regarded as one of the largest and cleanest internet fora - a result of Games Workshop's family-friendly policy, upheld by their forum moderators.[8] There are also a large number of smaller, unofficial websites and forums for Lord of the Rings players, such as "The Last Alliance", with over 9000 registered members, "The Palantir", with over 2500 members, and "The One Ring", with over 2300 registered members. Many smaller multi-topic forums, primarily intended for The Lord of the Rings SBG, exist.

On June 1, 2005, Games Workshop launched their annual UK-based Worldwide Campaign, for the first time featuring Lord of the Rings under the name "The War of the Ring Online Campaign". The Campaign was successful, with 3007 registered participants.[9] Games Workshop also introduced the "Wrath of Umbar Roadshow", with custom-built Corsair models and gaming boards being brought to various cities in the United Kingdom. When the Campaign formally ended on September 8, Good emerged the victor. The combined total of the 14 weeks was 27239 recorded wargames. The Forum closed shortly after, giving way to a smaller Canada-based Campaign with the same name.

The most recent full Online Campaign was the Campaign of LoTRs, run by The Dark Council and Cheeseweb.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "Many of the special or detailed rules only apply in rarefied situations… [but] Although the basic game system might seem beguilingly simple, you will find it requires considerable skill to employ it effectively." (The Two Towers Strategy Battle Game Rulebook, page 5, 2002).
  2. ^ a b Although the Army of the Dead Profiles were included in the compact "Mines of Moria" edition of the rules, they were accidentally omitted from the "One Rulebook". Because they were unavailable through what was supposed to have been the defining ruleset, they are available online for download: [1]. Golfimbul had been intentionally replaced with the standard Orc Captain Profile.
  3. ^ Quoted from Alessio Cavatore (Shadow and Flame, page 3, 2003).
  4. ^ The Ports of Pelargir, directory and resource site for Naval Miniature Wargaming
  5. ^ A Corsair Vessel (war galley from Umbar)
  6. ^ This was first proposed on the GW forum: [2].
  7. ^ Quoted from UK White Dwarf 311 (2006)
  8. ^ See: "Forum Do's and Don'ts" for forum policy.
  9. ^ UK White Dwarf 312 - "Victory for the Free Peoples", by Alessio Cavatore.
  10. ^ Peter Jackson, as a Hobbit in Bree.
  11. ^ Quoted from UK White Dwarf 265

[edit] External links

Lord of the Rings SBG Articles

BGiME | White Dwarf | Games Workshop Online Community |
War of the Ring Online Campaign | All at Sea | more...
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