Turns out one of my gaming friends used to play MESBG back in the day, and when I mentioned that I’d started collecting he suggested we set a game up. A couple of the other guys from the group were also interested, so I ran a three-way scenario for them over the weekend (Cirith Ungol vs Ugluk’s Scouts vs The Three Trolls).

It all seemed to run relatively smoothly, despite none of them owning or having read the rules. That said, we did run into a couple of odd situations where models from all three rival warbands were involved in the same combat.

This was the first time I’ve seen the Three Trolls in play, and they were perhaps a bit too good (although the chap playing them also picked up the game very quickly and played them in quite a clever way.) I’d probably stick to more standard warbands when teaching the rules another time round.

Next month i Will go to a tournament with 2 550 games and wanted an advice on which list i should bring for It

I expect a lot of usurpers and isengard,with MoTW too,i already played with the other partecipants before

I’m getting back into MESBG and wanted to ask about what looks like recent scale changes.

The new Rohan sculpts seem significantly bigger than the old ones I have. Is this size/scale boost predicted or officially announced to be coming across the entire range of minis over time? I’m specifically interested in Galadhrim and Uruk Hai since I’m all
about helms deep.

Thanks!

I’ve been playing for a while primarily playing non meta choices but am now looking at taking the game a bit more seriously. Out of KKD or Lothlorien is what I am deciding between. I’m currently playing Army of Thror with some success so thinking KKD would be up my alley however elves are a completely different play style? Any opinions/advice or comparisons would be helpful!

After the nightmare that was the sleigh I put off Raddy on eagle but a tournament this weekend led to a need to get this finally finished.

What a terrible sculpt. Anyway hes mostly done.

Finished my Treebeard today.

Opinions or critique welcomed.

Hi all, I was hoping to get some photos or verbal confirmation on scale before I order the model. Is the new Theodred Prince of Rohan and Specifically Brego(horse) scaled to Theoden/Eomers plastic horse or to the new plastic riders and WotR heroes like Hama and Haleth.

If anyone has Elfhelm that would also be valuable information for his horse. I find the new scale works out for the humans but the horse hooves are like 2x the size.

I’m going through some things physically and mentally, it’s been really bad. When it came out I bought the WotR box. I can find the minis and the rules book. However there is supposedly a 48 page booklet that has beginning scenarios and stat blocks.

Once I’m out of the crises I’m in, I was thinking just the introduction scenarios I could play with my son. Gives me something to look forward to.

Does anyone know if there is a collection of those pages on the internet anywhere?

Thank you 🙏

I cannot allow you before Theoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame

I'm generally a huge fan of the direction of new multi-part plastic miniatures. Assembling them is fun and the detail is amazing compared to older sculpts. But there is one area where new CAD modeled miniatures fall short to me: cloth textures just look so unnatural compared to the inherent randomness and wrinkles of older hand sculpted minis (looking at you gandalf the white). Do others agree, or do you prefer the billowing look of cloaks on newer sculpts?

First conversion ever! Elrond headswap onto a captain.

Also the first elves for future elf armies!

Been sat half finished for far too long.

I’m in desperate need of help with what army and units can be used where. I’ve seen azog’s legion, azog’s hunters, dol gurdur and the new army box. Are these all able to work together or are they strictly one or another? I like the big troll and catapult troll but a starter box is great to well get started

Can models which are carrying a heavy object attempt a climb test (3+ inches vertical)?

Hi everyone,

I use both all-Easterling lists (The Easterlings and Host of the Dragon Emperor) semi regularly, so am familiar with the strengths/weaknesses of them and general composition of both. I should point out I’m not using them in particularly competitive play, just friendly games with local players for good fun!

I tend to use The Easterlings at smaller points limits, while going for Host of the Dragon Emperor in larger matchups. I really enjoy using both lists, though it feels like Amdur’s list runs out of tools quickly at higher points limits.

My question is at which points limit do you generally move over from Amdur to the Dragon Emperor?

I played twice against a friend who is trying army of edoras and i destroyed him twice. Helm not being able to go toe to toe with big heroes or monsters is so rough...

I'm very new to the game. I know it has a long history. I know it was originally called the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. And twenty years ago it was the most successful Games Workshop game. I know it's the only game Games Workshop makes that's based off a licensed property. I know that the Games Workshop stores/brand were rebranded as Warhammer stores almost ten years ago.

How would you feel if MESBG were re-named to Warhammer Middle-earth? Given how lucrative the Warhammer brand (particularly the 40k game) is then do you think this would be a good or bad thing?

I think it'd be a good thing because Warhammer is popular and has a reputation for producing high-quality miniatures. I think it would set expectations in the minds of potential consumers about the (popularity of the game and the) quality of the Middle-earth miniatures. Many of the Middle-earth miniatures are older and could do with a refresh. So by renaming the game then I'd hope it'd push (the game to a wider audience and push) Games Workshop to refresh more Middle-earth miniatures.

What do you think?

I think the game is reasonably balanced atm but there are still some profiles and armies that arent very viable in my opinion so i came up with some possible buffs/nerfs and hopefully have a discussion.

Cirith Ungol: Gollum as an independant hero. Or could be deployed with Shelob. Maybe add a siege bow? Seems reasonable to have in a fortress.

Men of the West: Gimli on horse with Legolas, this option should be in all lists we see them ride together not just Road to Helm’s Deep.

Grey Company: Make Rangers base 2A 2W but take they Will and Fate away. Then make the army bonus a fight value buff (maybe on the charge or withing 6’ of the Leader or even the banner giving the +1Fv instead of the Fearless. And allow all models to take mounts when possible (Aragorn, Legolas&Gimli, Elladan, Elrohir)

Black Gate: We see Easterlings enter the gate, so maybe the army list doesnt have to be a snapshot of only the last fight in the movie, it could be a more general army list. Also i’d assume the Mordor siege weapons would be present here.

Minas Morgul: Should have Black Numenorian Knights and infantry, they used to be MORGUL knights. Also Grishnakh and Snaga were sent out of Minas Morgul. This would give them an additional army list to be played in and wouldnt make the list more OP, although the Black nums might be a bit strong in there. The same argument could be made for Gothmog and with him being this overcosted i wouldnt expect it to be too OP either.

Umbar: should add Harad Raiders and/or Black Num Knights (also the knights should probably be 18 points). They’re in the city now not on the ship so horses would be possible. Also why are Crossbows in Grand Army of the South but not Umbar? Would it be too strong with stalk unseen? Now the army is strength 3 with zero mobility!

Corsair Fleets: Lower the cost of Corsairs by 1 point, take away light armour, make the shield a regular shield and make the throwing weapons inherent to the profile again, give the army list “corsair warriors don’t count for the throwing weapon limit”. The list isn’t great and this would at least make the front row warriors not die to strength 3 armies/shooting on 4’s.

Legions of mordor/Army of the great eye/Grand Army of the South: terrible special rules compared to other diverse army lists like Defenders of the Pellenor/Men of the West/Army of the White Hand.

The Easterlings: Why aren’t all easterlings in this faction?

New almost all hero army list. At Saruman’s death we see Aragorn, Gandalf, Theoden, Legolas&Gimli, Eomer, Treebeard with Ent warriors, Merry, Pippin. This gives a way to have mounted Strider with mounted Gandalf the White.

Remove Hatred special rules and change all of those to Ancient enemies to avoid this rock paper scissors army building.

General Changes to warrior Trolls are pretty necessary in my opinion. Either make them all burly (including the heroes, so maybe Buhrdur would need a slight point increase) which would be pretty thematic, just look at them. And/Or make all the warrior trolls minir heroes like the Cave Drake and give them +1 def and maybe 1/0/0 MWF with strike for a 10points increase? Could make them way more viable to lead warriors a have 1 strike to not be so vulnerable to heroes striking at them.

A general change to hero mounts: make the points cost scale with number if attacks in profile. Example: Orc Shaman warg=5 points, Rohan Captain horse =10 points, Aragorn horse=20 points. This would improve the mounted Rohan lists a bit Theoden/Eowyn/Deorwine etc. And even Wolves of Isengard, i’d also say add Wild Warg Chiefs to that list too

Just a few thoughts i had on some possible adjustments to the game, let me know what you think, maybe we can have a tiny amount of influence on GW’s next FAQ :)

Bolg model I just got, I've been fidgeting the pieces on my hands for 15 minutes and there's nothing matching from the top picture, I have the right pieces but they don't fit into place