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Rumil · 02-12-2004, 10:16 PM

Evening All,

This LoTR battle game is really a wargame, I've been a wargamer (fantasy and historical) for longer than i can remember. I have played the Games Workshop version and have bought one of the rulebooks (no point buying them all as nearly all the info is repeated). baically this is a skirmish wargame (where one figure represents one person) with 'heroic' elements. It's a fairly simple system, based on the 'Warhammer' rules which GW have been producing since the 80s. The real joy of GW's involvement is the range of gorgeous figures (lead or plastic toy soldiers about 1 inch high, for those not in the know) which they have been licensed to produce.

GW aren't the first company to produce LoTR figures, Mithril Miniatures had the contract a few years ago and made some v. nice stuff, then it pased on to Harlequin miniatures for a year or two (which I was not really impressed by, apart from Radagast and Barliman Butterburr, strangely) until GW ended up with the license. As they are related to the films, there are some figures I have problems with (such as the elves with Katanas and weird armour), but generally I think they've done a good (if expensive) job. Always remember that there are plenty of alternative manufacturers out there too, producing generic fantasy and historical figures (eg Normans, which make v. good Rohirrim, or Saracens, who could pass as Haradrim).

As for the GW game, I've only played it once, but it was lots of fun, (as I remember I escaped from Moria, Boromir killed the Troll in one go, but I lost Merry). If you want to try a larger scale battle (where one figure represents 10 or 20 people), the Warhammer Historical Ancient warfare rules are a good starting point, and can be combined with their Fantasty rules to add in the fantasy elements, however, you'll need to alter the stats for various 'races'. On that point, I'm convinced that the 'evil' side in the GW game is given far better stats than it deserves, eg. the Uruk Hai seem to be greatly superior to the Rohirrim, which I disagree with. It's worth mentioning that there are plenty of other wargames rule sets to choose from. One of the simplest is 'Hordes of the Things' which is a simplified version of fantasy wargaming, somewhere between the 'real thing' and chess. There have also been various boardgames involving Middle Earth, and I have got to get the LoTR Risk sometime!

I guess it depends if you're happy with cardboard or you desire (and can paint) the lovely miniatures.

Cheers

Rumil

02-12-2004, 10:16 PM	#4
Rumil Sage & Onions Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Britain Posts: 894	Evening All, This LoTR battle game is really a wargame, I've been a wargamer (fantasy and historical) for longer than i can remember. I have played the Games Workshop version and have bought one of the rulebooks (no point buying them all as nearly all the info is repeated). baically this is a skirmish wargame (where one figure represents one person) with 'heroic' elements. It's a fairly simple system, based on the 'Warhammer' rules which GW have been producing since the 80s. The real joy of GW's involvement is the range of gorgeous figures (lead or plastic toy soldiers about 1 inch high, for those not in the know) which they have been licensed to produce. GW aren't the first company to produce LoTR figures, Mithril Miniatures had the contract a few years ago and made some v. nice stuff, then it pased on to Harlequin miniatures for a year or two (which I was not really impressed by, apart from Radagast and Barliman Butterburr, strangely) until GW ended up with the license. As they are related to the films, there are some figures I have problems with (such as the elves with Katanas and weird armour), but generally I think they've done a good (if expensive) job. Always remember that there are plenty of alternative manufacturers out there too, producing generic fantasy and historical figures (eg Normans, which make v. good Rohirrim, or Saracens, who could pass as Haradrim). As for the GW game, I've only played it once, but it was lots of fun, (as I remember I escaped from Moria, Boromir killed the Troll in one go, but I lost Merry). If you want to try a larger scale battle (where one figure represents 10 or 20 people), the Warhammer Historical Ancient warfare rules are a good starting point, and can be combined with their Fantasty rules to add in the fantasy elements, however, you'll need to alter the stats for various 'races'. On that point, I'm convinced that the 'evil' side in the GW game is given far better stats than it deserves, eg. the Uruk Hai seem to be greatly superior to the Rohirrim, which I disagree with. It's worth mentioning that there are plenty of other wargames rule sets to choose from. One of the simplest is 'Hordes of the Things' which is a simplified version of fantasy wargaming, somewhere between the 'real thing' and chess. There have also been various boardgames involving Middle Earth, and I have got to get the LoTR Risk sometime! I guess it depends if you're happy with cardboard or you desire (and can paint) the lovely miniatures. Cheers Rumil __________________ Rumil of Coedhirion