Hi all. After a hectic few months im now getting into LOTR properly and was wondering if i should just bite the bullet and get Escape from Goblin Town and start their or should i skip it out entirely and just get the new rulebook. as i hear the stats for all the minis are not in the mini book. but i do love the idea of recreating the scenarios.

or should i maybe consider both?

If you like the models, get the set. If you don't, get the rulebook and the miniatures you DO like.
I'm still holding off on the big rulebook in anticipation of a sourcebook of sorts. I'm not planning to field Thorin's Company, and have gotten them mostly for collective value. I don't need the big rulebook for the armies I already own, and you don't need it for any LotR models, just Hobbit ones.

The standard edition of EfGT can be obtained at discount from many online stores and the contents are actually reasonably good value compared to the individual cost of purchasing them as separate boxes of goblins, dwarves, terrain etcetera.

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Published ebooks:
Instrument of the Empire
A Note of Defiance
Phantom Ships, Ghost Flotilla
More to come!