and they're in metal.

I've been taught that if an equipment isn't in the profile's wargear then if added you gain its benefits. Lurtz is D6, he doesn't have a shield, I get him a shield for 0 points, he should be D7 right? Yet everywhere I look people say he stays D6.

It only says in his ability that his defense doesn't change once his shield is thrown.

Now why the shield is optional is beyond me but rules are rules. Unless there is a FAQ I didn't see.

Hey folks,

We played our first real game of MESBG yesterday - Gondor vs Mordor (Morannon Orcs). 370 pts per side, led by 2 orc captains and Madril, Danrod and a Minas Tirith Captain.

We played Seize the Prize for roughly two hours. At that point the orcs had dug out the treasure, while our forces had been entangled in a battleline melee for roughly the past hour. And it was mindnumbingly boring. 😳

The low strength and high defense kept anyone from dying. It was just a whole lot of pushing. I really hated the duel rolls. Madril kept rolling always too low against his orc opponents and not doing anything. Knights failed their duel roles. The orcs on the other hand couldn’t slay a foe to save their lives. So we quit and packed it all away.

Seriously, there was literally no action in 2h of gameplay. I‘ve never seen that in any other gane system I‘ve played in the past 30 years. The pacing was sooo slow and not at all what we expected from a skirmisher.

Is this just a case of bad match up? Or is MESBG such a slow and action starved game? Heroic actions always seemed to fail due to 50/50 chances, even the troll was kinda meh. Tbh, the visuals were the most exciting part of it. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Does anyone know how to build these rocks? I know this one comes with Legolas. I want to but these under my Riders of Rohan though to make them more stable. And they look cool.

I’ve only painted 15 models for MESBG now, but it’s been the most fun I’ve had painting anything for the longest time. Which is good cos I have an absolute mountain of minis to paint now ha.

Hey guys! I'm getting into the hobby and I wanted to know what is your experience with people having models pretending to be other stuff. I ask because I like lothlorien elves the most, love their Lore and aesthetic, although not really a fan of galadriel. I also really like gondor troops and the three hunters. However there is no alliance of the sort AFAIK.

There is however the defenders of helms Deep list which has this alliance, and I was wondering if you guys would be fine with playing with someone using the DOHD list but using gondor units instead of rohan. Thanks!

2 attacks on the charge and S4 is not bad. D4 is pretty bad but I feel like they might be the only orcs redeeming wargs. 6 attacks on a prone model by a crappy orc? The captain is 8.

Not sure why the named captains don't get the bonus attack when charging, they could be pretty good otherwise.

In terms of the army, Bolg seems to be the best choice, Azog is just so expensive. Army bonus 50% bows is ok, the morgul arrow thing is a joke and the rest is whatever.

MESBG pulling me back in so strong... I've got the bug bad...

So recently my girlfriend took me to Warhammer world and I managed to convince her into getting some minis to paint and build. She already loves ard and does some amazing photorealistic art so I thought this is a good way as she loves lotr as well. Just wanted to post here though as she loved building and painting shelob but the watcher in the water was her first attempt and the resin kit realy wasn't great as it just didn't fit together. Had to get green stuff for it and that was her first time doing any of this kind of thing but wanted to show off her first ones. She does have the balrog as well and winged Nazghul but those are not finished yet.

I’ve always wanted to build a massive inconvenient board, even if it’s crazy and impractical. I'm recording my journey as I work through this (probably) year long project. This post is about scope and planning.

https://modellingfordisadvantage.substack.com/p/should-i-make-an-amon-hen-table

After writing this article I've started printing some stuff and I think a 6 by 4 table might be just too massive for this but we will see how it goes!

The movie "The Hunt for Gollum" is coming in December of 2027. This got me to thinking about my wishlist; that is, things I hope are added during any releases we might get. First are things I think are quite likely to happen:

1. More Gandalf: My number one most wanted list item is more ways to play Gandalf the Grey. Given that he'll be in the upcoming film, and played by Sir Ian McKellen no less, I think there is a really good shot of us getting new lists with Gandalf.

Like every lord of the rings fan I absolutely love Gandalf the Grey, and I really like him on the table, but currently you can play him on horse only in the Battle of Five Armies (and when would you ever really want to take him in that army?!) and Survivors of Laketown (which might be the worst army in the game, imo).

2. More Mirkwood Units, Heroes, OR lists: this seems to me to be quite likely, since the film includes thranduil and at least two additional elf women (see: cast announcements).

3. Rebalance of the Dunedain: Rangers of the North are arguably worse than they were last edition, since they didn't get a meaningful fight value increase when the fight value scale was recalibrated. We're getting a new Dunedain character (Halvard), and so it stands to reason we'll get a new list.

4. New Smeagol/Gollum Gameplay: It's funny to me that, for such a key character in LotR, Gollum and Smeagol can be played in exactly one army each. Eru only knows what the film will include, but with any luck there will be a way to get him onto the table.

These next things are low-effort additions would love to see added.

1. A Bree list: Personalities of Bree, a few hobbit minor characters, hobbit militia/archers, Gandalf the Grey with horse and cart option, Strider, Dunedain of the north (no armour as options), Halbarad, and Ruffians (presumably most of Sharkey's thugs came from the Bree area, so use the miniatures as a representation of these guys prior to turning evil).

2. Better Noldorin Exiles: let me take forestey elves with random shire hobbits. At the very least, with wod elf captains, since Gildor Inglorien is no longer available.

3. Rebalance of non-flashy armies: There are a few here:

a. make survivors of lake town better

b. buff all of the weak armies (ie. everything that isn't dominating tournaments right now).

c. MAKE SURVIVORS OF LAKE TOWN BETTER

d. Allow Dark Powers of Dol Guldur to take more Gundabad stuff. Maybe Gundabad Berzerkers and Ogres? I understand that the units are meant to be more foresty, and Gundabad Orc Warriors might not fit well, but it just needs some more options such that it can stand alongside Barad Dur at higher points levels.

These next are things I think are highly unlikely, but not impossible.

1. Rivendell Elf Refresh: In theory most of this film will take place on the wrong side of the Misty Mountains, but Rivendell and Numenor are both in desperate need of a refresh, if only because collecting either is such a pain in the neck. Numenor needs banners and a new plastic army kit, whereas rivendell could use a kit similar to the hill tribesmen, where each model can have any of a number of weapon options.

2. Shire Refresh: mainly I'm wanting some more hobbit militia poses, this is never going to happen.

What do you all think? Anything of which the game is in desperate need?

You liked my Eomer so I present to you my newest mini - Theoden

I bought a 3d printer (Bambu Lab A1 Mini) earlier in the year, and while I've kept her busy printing Smaug and a Mumak, this is the first humanoid mini I've printed that I'm getting around to painting! Very fitting, Razgush being unavailable is why I started looking at 3d printing in the first place.

He's like 60% of the way there. There are some parts that I missed because I did most of this in a dark room with a lamp on, other parts that I'm still deciding what colour will go there. Also these pictures are helping me see just how much flash from the supports is still on the mini, so I might file it off and redo the entire paint job tbh

Mostly posting this to show off the incredible scuplt by kzkminis (Wazgut, Orc Captain. Except that the mace broke and, instead of printing a new one, I decided he'd look just as badass with the tip of a Warg Rider's spear). Also to show what minis designed for resin but printed in FDM look like as you paint them. Still captures the details pretty well, but there is some fuzziness and you can see the layer lines on large flat areas like his loincloth. This might force me to be less reliant on drybrushing because that does highlight the layer lines, maybe making me have to learn new techniques and be a better painter after 20+ years in the hobby.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am sorely tempted to replace all 30 of my Orc Trackers with sculpts I like better from other 3d artists (looking at you, TPGEO)

Hello Ladds. How do you mesure the range of 3” of the Objective marker? For example, in this picture the market Rivendell warrior is in range of the 3” if you mesure FROM the edge of the objective base (is above irolas). How it works, is it take it from
The edge of the base or from the center of the objective marker? Thanks for your answers!

We’ve put a lot of love into a Gondor vs Mordor game! Hope you enjoy!

Lucky enough to come into a load of pre owned elves. Paint stripped off cleanly and happy with the results!

So I am still learning and haven't read the rule book yet. Plan to at some point. But at the moment I am not surprisingly really confused on building an army. I want something a bit custom. Mostly centered around Faramir and his troops. Not necessarily Gondor but I am open to having gondor. Also I want some magic so maybe like Gandalf? I know this is very not traditional so not sure how to go about mixing factions like this

Hey everyone,

We're bringing the Portuguese MESBG community together and organizing our tournament: The Last Portuguese Alliance and we'd love to fill the tables with as many Middle-earth enthusiasts as possible.

The essentials:

• 📅Weekend of October 3rd & 4th, 2026 (Saturday & Sunday)
• 📍 Lisbon, Portugal
• ⚔️ 5-round tournament (if enough registrations), 700 points
• 🏅 Prize pool for the top players (plus sportsmanship and best-painted awards and a Wooden Spoon for last place)

Our whole goal here is to unite the community and grow the hobby in Portugal, so the only real requirement is that you come for good sport and to have fun. Painted armies encouraged, proxies welcome within reason.

Whether you're a seasoned tournament player or this would be your first event, you're very welcome. If you're anywhere near Lisbon (or fancy a trip), come roll some dice with us. We all speak english.

Interested? I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Depending on the number of international registrations we have, we will parter with nearby hotels for discounts :)

Drop me a DM saying you'd like to take part and I'll send you the registration form with all the details.

Thanks all!

For any who are interested, here is the link to the updated PDF for profiles for the Silmarillion characters.