GW gain Hobbit Licence and extend LOTR

Noddwyr · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:20 pm

http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail? ... 5&from=rss

WARNER BROS. CONSUMER PRODUCTS EXTENDS LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH GAMES WORKSHOP TO INCLUDE

"THE HOBBIT" AND "THE LORD OF THE RINGS"

BURBANK, Calif., Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) announced today that it has extended its six-year licensing agreement with Games Workshop, enabling them exclusive, worldwide, all-language rights to produce tabletop games based on "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" properties.

This extension allows Games Workshop, the largest tabletop fantasy and futuristic battle-games company, to expand on their arsenal of battle-games and model soldiers. Under the agreement, Games Workshop will continue to develop and increase their offerings from Middle-earth, the literary creation of J.R.R. Tolkien, allowing fans to realistically recreate action from the books and movies, based on one of the most thrilling stories ever told.

"Games Workshop has been a valuable partner of ours for a number of years and we look forward to continuing and expanding this successful relationship," said Karen McTier, Executive Vice President, Domestic Licensing and Worldwide Marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. "Their products reflect the true spirit of 'The Lord of the Rings' franchise and, as anticipation builds for the release of 'The Hobbit,' the property's loyal fans will be excited for these richly inspired offerings."

"'The Lord of the Rings' is now firmly established as one of our core game systems, and the opportunity to expand it further with the upcoming film 'The Hobbit' is very exciting indeed, both for us and our hobbyists," said Mark Wells, CEO, Games Workshop. "The fantasy worlds of Middle-earth, as realized in the original works of J.R.R. Tolkien and in Peter Jackson's groundbreaking film adaptations, make wonderful backgrounds and stories which Games Workshop faithfully reproduces through its range of miniatures and battle-games."

Games Workshop products are available for purchase through Games Workshop Hobby Centres and independent retailers throughout the globe.

Dorthonion · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:45 pm

I spotted this on http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/. It was the most likely scenario for the minis licence, given that they have been churning them out for about 10 years now. But we can only hope that the sculpting standards are good on the new generation of pieces. And that the prices are plausible... :roll:

whafrog · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:25 pm

...and that SBG is supported...and that they don't invent a new game...and...

Lorizael · **Joined:** Sat Jul 24, 2010 4:58 pm **Posts:** 202

Sculpting standards are likely to be in tune with the latest plastic releases- Dol Amroth and Morgul Knights, which are excellent models.
Prices are generally great for the plastics- metal characters are a bit excessive but doubt it will change.

Personal speculation is SBG moving to Specialist games and WotR getting a new edition and a starter box to go with it.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 9:52 pm

Quote:

Personal speculation is SBG moving to Specialist games and WotR getting a new edition and a starter box to go with it.

That is interesting point of view. I think SBG will get some scenarios for 13 dwarfs, Goblin Town and spiders more elves and a dragon. WOTR will get a 5 armies starter set if The Battle of Five Armies is in the first movie. If the war with the Necromancer is in chronological order it will be in the first movie.* Then we will get a starter set based on that.
I think it is way too soon to speculate.
Let us hope they don't change the scale or something else completely insane.

* I need to look that up to be certain.

Drazmar · **Joined:** Mon Jan 31, 2011 9:05 pm **Posts:** 25

Finally... I just wish they'd get rights for the Silmarillion and make a Fall of Gondolin supplement...

Sounds good. Maybe they'll make a starter set for WotR as well, or make Five Armies on large scale.

Sacrilege83 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:40 pm

It makes sense for there to be a WOTR expansion because of the fortress in southern Mirkwood, and the final battle of five armies. But I don't see why SBG won't find support from this, after all it's a story about 15 companions going on a quest getting into skirmishes. If anything GW should release "The Hobbit" supplement sourcebook for SBG.

Pindergorn · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:55 am

Sacrilege83 wrote:

It makes sense for there to be a WOTR expansion because of the fortress in southern Mirkwood, and the final battle of five armies. But I don't see why SBG won't find support from this, after all it's a story about 15 companions going on a quest getting into skirmishes. If anything GW should release "The Hobbit" supplement sourcebook for SBG.

^This. If anything, this is the perfect opportunity for GW's LoTR Game to return to its roots as a Skirmish level Narrative game. In the very least, I expect an entire Journey Book along the lines of FOTR, TT and ROTK.

Erunion · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:07 am

Excellent news! I figured this would be the case, but it's good to have confirmation!

Sacrilege83 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 7:22 am

@King Ondoher
Hey another TLA regular on here, welcome! We're like one big happy community with members switching back and forth. Maybe we should do what the NFL & Major League Baseball has done and combine our two separate sites and then have a World Series painting challenge or something. LOL, I guess maybe that would be asking too much.

{aD}??? · **Joined:** Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:17 am **Posts:** 202

Can't wait for the new models (really hoping for some plastic hobbits) :frodo:

@Sacrilege

I'm also from TLA

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

Sounds like fantastic news!

I can't believe people still manage to find their way to complain about GW when news like this comes up. I think all you guys just want to complain for the sake of it. We've heard it all before again and again so just be happy when news like this comes.

Elros of Numenor · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:16 am

This also means that, because the elves were involved with TBOFA, that GW will gain a commercial reason to extend the elf range, possibly including a new high elf plastic set :-D

(FINALLY)

@ Oldman Willow- I don't think they'll do it like that, but have Gandalf allude to it and then the second film will have the war with the necromancer. IMHO of course

Thanks for posting the good news!

Leinad · **Joined:** Sat Jan 29, 2011 4:11 pm **Posts:** 24

Maybe they will release a supplement for the hobbit, covering both WOTR and Sbg, with a mix of scenarios, and new profiles for both systems.

Sacrilege83 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:07 pm

Sticky Fingersss wrote:

Sounds like fantastic news!

I can't believe people still manage to find their way to complain about GW when news like this comes up. I think all you guys just want to complain for the sake of it. We've heard it all before again and again so just be happy when news like this comes.

I can understand the frustration of reading posts of people crying on the forum, but hey that's one of the reasons why the forum exists, to debate, whine, and complain. I'll count myself as one of those few that complain everytime GW raises a penny on one of their models, or comes out with less than satisfying quality of sculpts. Better to cry about these issues on here rather to cry about if someone is posting in the wrong forum topic or if someone is necro posting (these I see from time to time). So a few of us here have a love/hate relationship with GW. I'm like a junkie needing a fix and GW is my dealer/supplier, and it's about time we receive some news about something because to be honest it's been a while since GW has mention anything of LOTR that I feel like I'm going through withdrawal. But this is great news, predicted, but still great to have it confirmed now that GW is still running the middle-earth line of miniatures.

Oldman Willow · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:20 pm

Quote:

I don't think they'll do it like that, but have Gandalf allude to it and then the second film will have the war with the necromancer. IMHO of course

Either way we get new figures :rofl:

7Thunders · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 5:11 pm

Well i'm glad to see this news. I know GW cant be
expected to just constantly concentrate on just "Us" all
of the time. But i was starting to think that we was coming to
the end of our rope. Now this will give me a reason to
get off my power armour kick (darn grey knights) and start
stocking up on some serious amounts of wood elves.

Elros of Numenor · **Posted:** Fri Feb 11, 2011 5:24 am

Yeah! Hi five for getting new figures!

samoht · **Posted:** Fri Feb 11, 2011 11:45 am

GW must make more the Hobbit for SBG. It would be perfect for it.

Lord of Edoras · **Posted:** Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:04 am

This is good news.

A few days ago GW released an "article" on their website. Read it here: http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/conte ... =15100076a
To my surprise, it was an article about SBG! However, after reading it through quickly (only one page), I realize that it is more of an advertisement to sell LotR to Warhammer players rather than an actual article. The content basically explains what LotR SBG is, and how it is different from Warhammer/40k. The article ends off with one last effort to sell LotR to the reader..."if you don't like the rules, buy the mnis to paint them!"...even showing Golden Demon entries to show how cool LotR minis can be.

Overall, excited to see LotR content, but it's garbage that is purely written for Warhammer players.

GW gain Hobbit Licence and extend LOTR

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