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- Andreas "the Norwegian Viking"

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Sweet!, that is some great stuff!

Will Legolas still be able to take orcrist?

It is believed he will but his profile itself (not wargear options) will be nerfed to match the LOTR profile it seems.

The relative power creep that has happened with the hobbit forces seems to be brought inline to a more comparable level with Lotr forces.

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- Andreas "the Norwegian Viking"

Support STF on patreon:
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That is great news!

Hi,
I've also written this on the GBHL page but thought people here may be interested as well:

Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game
I`m a massive fan of Tolkien and Middle-Earth and had a long chat with Adam Troke who is so enthusiastic about the SBG. There is a lot planned for the SBG starting with the release of the Hobbit-tome, “There and Back Again”. The proofs have been sent off for approval and it is hoped to release this around December. The book covers all the Hobbit films and includes scenarios for all the key events of the films – based on the extended editions. The book also contains a campaign system for linking the scenarios together as well as profiles for all the units / heroes found within the films. A point that was raised was the power-level of the Hobbit profiles as compared to the Lord of the Rings profiles and Adam confirmed that the profiles have been balanced. One of the most exciting profiles for me is the inclusion of the Nazgûl as found in the Battle of Dol Gûldor! The book also includes rules for running armies of the main forces in the film such as the Iron Hill Dwarves or Gundabad. A new feature that is intended to be used in the revised armies is that by taking a force that is unique, the force will gain a bonus. The example given was that an army from Dale alone will gain a 3+ Shoot value. Dale bowman in a mixed force with Erebor or Lake Town wouldn`t take this bonus.

The previewed models such as Dáin, the Iron Hill Dwarves and the Gundabad Berserkers are all due for release from October to December alongside the Lake Town plastic house. Future plans are possible event-only models or special edition models. Event-only models will feature models that can be bought at GW events rather than through the webstore and represent a special role / pose of the character / unit whereas special edition models represent a limited time release.

Future plans involve a revised set of rules. Adam stated that he is not concerned about massive changes as the rules by themselves are mostly sound. Revisions will include special strikes as these are currently unbalanced and possibly magic. This is planned for next summer and will come under the heading “Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game” to demonstrate that the Hobbit and LOTR are using the same core rues.

At this point there are two planned ways forward which are not fixed in place. One option is to create a “One Book to Rule Them All” that will include the rules and the profiles of all the units, heroes, monsters of Middle-Earth so that everything is in one place. The second option is to release the rules as one book and then release separate source books that will cover the races with the profiles included inside.

Either way, all armies are to be revised in line with the idea stated above with army-specific bonuses. No army is going to be scrapped and all will remain a playable force together with a re-balancing. Army creation may be tweaked but not dramatically. More army options are to be included so for example Rohan may have Théoden`s Hall, Helms Deep, the Western Mark under Éomere and the Eastern Mark under Théodred and the charge of Pellanor Field. Each will play slightly differently to the others

One confirmed area of development are scenario packs that will focus on one event or character. An example was given of the “Ringbearer`s Journey” that would include scenarios, rules etc that follow Frodo from leaving Bag End to the destruction of the Ring. Other possible plans are the War in the North and the Eastern Realms.

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"Their armour is thick and their shields are broad".

This sounds awesome. I didn't dream that any of this stuff would be happening this year! I thought we'd have a relatively long while to wait.

Not sure if these have been posted somewhere else in the news forums, but I saw it over on the LOTR re-release thread on dakkadakka.

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"Build me an army worthy of Mordor"

Some good news!

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I hate the idea of Games Workshop event models if I'm not misinterpreting it.

There are and have been 0 GW events in basically my state since I got i to this hobby again.

I might not understand correctly, but unless GW forces events here(absolutely unlikely) then a lot of this country and definitely this area won't have the option.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY

I am not sure what I missed. What option?

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Apparently it is possible that in the future some models will be made which will only be purchasable at a certain event. Troke called these 'Event only models', as these can only be obtained at that event.

Instead of "event only models", they should make them GW store only models and drive some traffic into their stores. I know I haven't been for over a year, no need when all LOTR/Hobbit seems to be online only.

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"Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."

And for those people who don't live within reasonable distance of either a GW event or a GW store?

Horrible, horrible idea from the POV of marketing the game and GW making money by cutting off a large part of your potential market and making them bitter they can't get shiny new things.

Now if you wanted to make new models available weeks ahead of time at events before being released to the public then that would be reasonable.

;

OK. Thanks.

No local stores, no local events,not available online,nothing new for years on end, do we need more reasons not to collect GW models?

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I cannot wait to see the rules for the new units and I can't wait to see how they update the ringwraiths to.

Event only models annoy the hell out of me, mostly because of rare model inflation after-the-fact. I get they are an great way to promote an event and improve footfall but I think event pre releases are a much better idea. Get models several months prior to actual release is a great idea. I remember when they did that for space marines at a gamesday years ago. You could buy the new units and codex about 2 months before official release and it generated so much more hype.

I really like the idea of army themed bonuses. They arent new per se, look at the grey company or haradrim forces with their altered bow limit. Another good way to increase variety would be to add more options for existing warriors, example being WoMT and their ability to upgrade to osgiliath garrison troops.

So was at the forgeworld event and came across most of the rules for the iron hills can say I'm very impressed,
Dain has a dwalin style profile with all the 3s in the right places plus causing terror on the charge and keeps his troops in the fight with a instant courage pass rule, the warriors are sweet with a crossbow or Mattock option and the ram riders get war spear with a knockdown ability before they roll for the duel, missed much on the chariot besides seeing it's 5 wounds and a repeating crossbow can't wait for this release Adam and the team have done a great job. Please delete if I've put to much info up as I'm new here

Not a fan of the event only models. Everything else looks great. Any guesses what those goblin town mercenaries profiles will look like?

No offense intended but youre absolutely incorrect.

Your argument is that since some people arent close enough it's bad marketing and money making.

The facts: They're tinkering with the idea of models exclusive to something.

You can either A-make them exclusive to events, A-make them exclusive to stores, or A-make them website exclusives(not really exclusive at all)

With option A you basically put these models only in the hands of the UK and some of mainland Europe mostly.

With option B you have a lot of Americans near larger cities that do have Games Workshop stores.

Option C gives it to everyone .

By going from A to B you exponentially increase the chance for profits. Same going to C.

I don't think a large portion of games workshop's Lord of the Rings profits come from people who aren't near their stores. Id bet on it.

The locations wherr gaming actually is a thing because there is population and the community who plays and games consistently is where the money comes from.

So the idea that you said is horrible in fact will make them a lot more money. I know that my group and several other in the United States alone would not be able to get exclusive models from the events because there is none here yet we have many Games Workshop stores which we would all probably purchased the models from when they came out.

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BLACKHAWK 2010 2013 2015 DYNASTY