The Battle for Middle Earth Campaign

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:00 pm

Hi everyone! I've been inspired by a few posters recently (Jacob, Hilbert...) to finish a generic campaign system for the LOTR SBG. I know there are a number of version available however I've taken a step towards the Warhammer Fantasy Mighty Empires rules. Inspiration also from the White Dwarf Middle Earth in Flames Campaign.

Anyway here's the link.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ftmcfqmdhtc6w1j

Document is 15 pages, containing rules, turn sheet and example map. I plan on using this thread to post images of my Mighty Empires tile set as it grows, with conversion and army marker ideas etc. I haven't thought this all through so ideas for recreating the famous landmarks would be great. Also if the rules aren't clear, let me know and I'll either amend them or post up a FAQ doc too.

Will be testing it out this weekend! :-D

Attachment:

Campaign Rules.jpg

Hilbert · **Joined:** Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:07 am **Posts:** 2088

Very nice... Hope you have time for it... We will do one and finish it this time at summer probably

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:54 pm

Cheers mate! Hopefully I'll be able pick up any faults with the system and change them. Managed to piece together the map using all the Mighty Empire tiles although I haven't got very far with painting it. What you can see is an area spreading from the Blackgate, across the Emyn Muil down into Anorien, the tip of the White Mountains with Minas Tirith and then down into Lebennin as far as Pelargir. I could really use another Mighty Empires set, 50 tiles is too small! Note Pelargir is to the bottom right, the Black Gate is to the top left.

There are 10 Strategic Points to fight over, represented by the bases at the moment although I'm working on converted map pieces.

From my preliminary findings, moving round the map is quite easy, except Rivers, they do tend to foil plans. I'm looking forward to testing out the resources and special rules to see if they add something good to the game (fingers crossed)

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Sun Jan 22, 2012 12:32 pm

Small update: I've changed the map slightly, so now the Strategic Points are 'strategically placed'. In my initial play testing yesterday, it was far too easy to claim one of the marsh tiles (2 spaces I think). The map has been painted so work will begin on the army and city markers.

31 downloads before I took the old file down, so if you have that file you're the only ones!

New file has been added to the original post and is also on my blog

cheers

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Tue Jan 24, 2012 1:09 am

Campaign Map

Only a few things to finish. River needs final highlight and then clear gloss coat. The tile borders I have left for now so they may look out of place. Here are some pics, more available on my blog (see the globe box between the PM and MSN buttons) and also a link to the slideshow. Plenty of close ups available.

http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z261 ... =slideshow

Next up, modelling the famous landmarks! :-D

Sticky Fingersss · **Joined:** Sat Oct 09, 2010 11:20 am **Posts:** 1776

Looks great! Can't wait to see the landmarks done! The proper paintjob makes it look REALLY good.

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Sat Jun 23, 2012 11:38 pm

@StickyFingersss - Thanks! I've been working on the layout for the rules and also addressed some of the problems that came about when I gave the campaign system a go. Anyway long story short, it's ready for the printing press!

Okay folks free to download, give it a go and let me know what you think, in the meantime i'll post pics of my newly built landmarks, army counters and other bits and bobs for the Campaign.

The Final Draft of the Battle for Middle Earth Campaign Rules
http://www.mediafire.com/?cj4rji7ffmcfkh8

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2012 10:49 am

The Final Draft of the Battle for Middle Earth Campaign Rules
http://www.mediafire.com/?cj4rji7ffmcfkh8

link posted again

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Sun Jun 24, 2012 11:15 am

Sorted some pictures of the Strategic Point markers, here they are both before and after painting with a brief description.

Beacon of Gondor
Use a small amount of Green-stuff to create a hill (the beacon) on the rear of the marker. Paint up using browns and greys.

The Black Gate
File the details off a large marker. Next use a piece of wire to resemble the gate and Green-stuff to build the mountain range around it. Paint using greys and pure black for the gate.

Border Fort of Emyn Muil
I wanted a simple looking mountain piece that might represent an Orc stronghold on the borders of Emyn Muil. To do this I filed details from a small marker piece and used Green-stuff to build the rock shapes. Painted using greys and browns.

Border Fort of Harad
This was built using the castle marker. I chopped the corners of the castle off to leave a plus (+) shaped sign and then took one of those sides away to leave 3 walls. I filed the details off a large marker piece until flat and glued the fort on top. Paint using Browns, Yellows and White.

Cair Andros
I used a small marker, Green-stuff to create a wall and painted using Browns and pale Greys

Crossing of Nindalf
Similar to the process for the Border Fort of Emyn Muil only the colours used were Browns mostly.

Henneth Annun
This was a large marker filed flat and then Green-stuff used to create a low-lying hill surrounded by trees.

Minas Morgul
Another large marker with two pieces of wire to create the large outer wall and also the inner circle of towers. The great tower was created from one of the flags, simply cut and glued to place. The mountains surrounding the city were scultped carefully around the army marker hole so as not to cover it up (this is where the army markers sit). Painted using Greys and White for the walls.

Minas Tirith
Took me two attempts but got there in the end. Use a large marker and add a triangle of Green-stuff. The first wall is already part of the marker and the rest go through the mountain. I simply sculpted rough shapes and added a small piece to the top for Denethors Court. Paint using Browns and White.

Pelargir
This is one of the special counters. I simply added Green-stuff to the inners of the marker to create rough terraces. It's a pretty cool piece anyway! Paint using Greys and White.

Additional Pieces
Shields stuck to poles (army markers), the snake shaped one is for the Haradrim taken from the Warhammer Dark Corsair Shield Designs, extra forts and also watchtowers (created from the corners of a fort). You will also need bare flag markers to show which side controls Strategic Points if the armies move away from the marker.

Next up, playtesting the final draft!

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Mon Jul 02, 2012 4:15 pm

Wow. This looks really cool. Where do you get the tiles and markers and such? This seems like something I would like to do in the future. :-D

Keep up the good work.

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:58 pm

Thanks it's been a fun project so far. You can buy it from Games Workshop, link below
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catal ... id=2253760

You get 50 double sided hexes and a load of markers, flags etc

Also worth looking at the article below, includes some cool rules and pics of sea tiles
http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/conte ... Id=1600008

Hope that helps

mastermanje · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:52 pm

Awesome project!

Wah Wing · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:42 pm

Thanks lorderkenbrand! Do you know if they have this on eBay or something similar. It's kind of pricy. If I ever get something like this, though, I'll definitely look this page up for reference. :-D

noobert · **Posted:** Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:55 am

Really like the rules, definetily gonna use em some time for a campaign. Only thing I think that u could add is rules on named heroes dying.

Sticky Fingersss · **Joined:** Sat Oct 09, 2010 11:20 am **Posts:** 1776

Impressive Minas Tirith shields. Did you use a mold with liquid green stuff?

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Thu Dec 27, 2012 5:17 pm

noobert wrote:

Really like the rules, definetily gonna use em some time for a campaign. Only thing I think that u could add is rules on named heroes dying.

I agree, changes have been made :wink:

I'm now pretty close to finishing a revamp of the rules! Also made it easier to interpret what are rules and what is just a description.

This follows a 10 turn playtest of the rules however I haven't got time to write them up despite taking photos and notes. Still, the process was useful to discover what works and what doesn't. I'll post a list of changes and new rules alongside the link to the updated copy.

Cheers guys and Merry Christmas

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 3:43 pm

The Battle for Middle Earth Campaign Rules V2

Here it is guys, final copy I hope. If there are any problems with the Campaign System or questions I will add a FAQ section to it. Otherwise I am very happy with how the rules play out. Link to the updated copy below

http://www.mediafire.com/view/?euck246recohw84

There were a number of issues that I thought needed correcting. The biggest problem was that armies were simply 'camping' on their Strategic Points. Also movement around the map was restricted and grew tidious. I also found we weren't generating enough resources to build armies and battles.

- So I've updated the Forced March rolls, making it easier to move. Also Rivers only pose a problem for one turn now, after which an army may cross freely (assumed they have built/scavenged rafts). I've also increased the resources generated and added rules so that forces between 100-200 points will always retreat (no point in fighting with such small forces).

- Camping is no longer a good thing as you can only reinforce an army by 200 points a turn. If there is no army there, you can create a new army of up to 500 points. So it makes sense moving your forces out into the map! Also enemy forces on adjacent tiles reduce income so you need to keep them away by fighting in the field! Naughty campers :twisted:

- I've spent a lot of time rewriting the Turn Sheet as I struggled to keep track using the last one. The updated version is exactly tailored for each Campaign Turn

- Named Heroes get a mention, you can recover them if they are lost in battle.

- Working out who returns after routing has been simplified.

- I've added illustrations etc

I'm sure there are other things you will notice that are different, but I tried not to over-complicate things.

You can still download the earlier version, I haven't taken that down. I do recommend using these updated rules though. So far I've had one trial and rushed through some battles, and it works much better IMO

I'm thinking of buying some 10-15mm size miniatures for my army markers so I can differentiate between them more easily. Future project perhaps...

Would like to hear thoughts, suggestions and any feedback

Thermo · **Posted:** Sat Dec 29, 2012 5:50 pm

Looks like a fantastic project buddy!

If camping is an issue, you could give each tile a points value (maybe a standard value for empy tiles and a higher one for those with settlements) Those points represent the recruitment power of each faction per turn, encouraging expansion to increase recruitment capability. Lose territory, lose recruitment power and vice versa.

Or even objective cards like the game Risk... the objectives would be secret but have a time scale. For example, "take objective A within 10 turns"

Just some ideas!

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Mon Jan 14, 2013 4:02 pm

Thermo - thanks for the advice mate, much appreciated.

I did try assigning a value to each ordinary tile of 5pts per turn revenue (lower value than Strategic Points) in a early playthrough. It would make sense as you've explained however it changed the gameplay, the main issue that cameabout was

- it became more of a race to capture the most tiles on the map rather than armies focusing their efforts on the campaign objectives. This meant armies were ignoring one another and in some cases leaving the more valuable strategic points vulnerable to attack.

My gaming partner agreed Strategic Points were good enough to represent basic regional power, revenue and distribution although we did think about having fewer Strategic Points on the map and instead a greater number of 'Minor Settlements' perhaps generating a half / third of the amount of revenue SP's can bring in.

The benefit here would be that army movements might become more fluid - armies would have to split into smaller contigents in order to take and hold these 'Minor Settlements' but almost certainly keep a large force back to hold the all important Strategic Points.

Now I LIKE the idea of Objective cards! That would certainly add an element of originality to each turn! Do you know where I can find the details of the cards from the LOTR Risk game, without having to buy it?

lorderkenbrand · **Posted:** Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:50 pm

Just mulling over the options for Mission cards / Secret Objective cards...

There are a number of different ways to play them going from what i've read online.

- At the beginning of the game you select three cards randomly from a pile and keep them secret from your opponents. The cards contain hidden objectives. If you complete an objective lay the card face up so that both players can see. If you complete all three objectives you gain a new army (worth 600 points) to be located at any Strategic Point. Select three more cards randomly from the pile and follow the rules above in the next turn.

...or...

- At the beginning of the game select one card randomly from a pile and keep it secret from your opponents. The card contains a hidden objective. If you complete the objective you gain 200 points to be added to your Treasury. Lay the card face up once complete so that both players can see. Select another card randomly and attempt to complete the objective following the rules above in the next turn.

Two options, which one would be best? Ideas to modify them?

Also an additional rule that could apply - Abandoning the objectives your Commander has dealt you is often punishable. If you should wish to discard an objective card deduct 100 points from one of your army's (as the hero is summoned to answer for his actions) and remove the card from play. Pick another card and follow the rules as above.

Thoughts?

The Battle for Middle Earth Campaign

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