I'm wanting to get back into the game after almost a decade away. I've got all three rulebooks based on the 3 LotR films, as well as Shadow & Flame. I've been considering selling them on Ebay and buying myself the Big Blue Book for the updated rules and profiles - but will I be loosing some information? Does the Blue Book contain all of the scenarios from all of the previous books? Are any characters from earlier films missed out?

I'll collect the Hobbit book sooner or later for a complete update of the rules (if there are any), but I'm a bit of a completionist when it comes to scenarios, profiles etc.

Thanks for any help!

The scenarios in the old three books are available only in them, which is why I'm still holding onto them. The blue book contains updated rules and profiles compared to those old rulebooks but does not reprint the scenarios - it only has a few points match 'scenarios' which I think are available elsewhere and an updated Balin's Tomb scenario.

The Hobbit rulebook is a major update to the rules and is the current rules set, replacing the Big Blue Book.

-- Pasi

Hi Drood,
I kept my 3 rulebooks because I like to have them for the scenarios (better balanced than later versions of the same ones IMO) and the hobby pictures/inspiration it gives.

When I got back into the hobby I wasn't expecting to get into the tournament side of things, however it is a lot more fun and not difficult at all to get into than I thought at the time. So i went and bought all the old sourcebooks on ebay and the BRB because I didn't want to pay retail for the newer books. It ended up costing more, and then I got the new stuff

The BRB is missing a lot of profiles that are very common in the hobby these days, and I'm talking about good and fun units to use - there isn't anything OP in the newer stuff. So you would have to get all the old sourcebooks to get those profiles and like I said it would end up costing you more than getting the new stuff in addition to the minor changes to some profiles/armies.

I would recommend going on ebay for the EFGT starter set or at the very least, the mini rulebook. Then it's up to you to make a decision about getting the sourcebooks or waiting to see if GW produces something else. I'd get the sourcebooks for your armies so you can play in the time being.

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I don't have the new hobbit rulebook and have been hiding under a rock. How is the new and updates rules fairing compared to the old ones? Is there a drastic improvement or is it so so? Some good some bad? Just a question out of curiosity. I'll pick up the new one sooner or later.

Thanks

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I'd buy the Escape from goblin town set. The book alone costs more than half the price of the set, but there's a perfectly good rulebook included, minus scenarios and profiles. The profiles were releases as a pdf later on anyway.

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Thanks for the swift replies guys! Looks like I've found the best forum to discuss the game, that's for sure!

From the sounds of it, I'll miss out the Blue Book all together then, and collect the Hobbit book once I've painted a few models and got a game or two under my belt.

The Escape From Goblin Town doesn't have the rest of the scenarios - is that correct? Are they in the mini rulebook instead? It still seems the best value for money, but it's a little annoying if I'll have to collect both!

The mini rulebook is the one that comes with the Escape from Goblin Town boxed set. It has only five simple learn-to-play scenarios, nothing you really want to play if you already know the rules. The real Hobbit scenarios of the first movie are in the big Hobbit rulebook and the second movie scenarios are in the Desolation of Smaug book.

-- Pasi

As Pasi said, the Big Hobbit rulebook has the scenario's, but many people find it terribly overpriced so won't be getting it. In Australia, they are trying to flog it for $140. Your typical novel costs between $14-$22 for well known authors, and books for university would be around $50-60, so it is extremely excessive what they are charging for it (their practice is to take US price and double it basically, even though 1 AUD is worth around 95 us cents, so an insignificant amount.
Also, the green DOS book has a low production run for some reason and is already OOP, so I would probably pick that up sometime soon just to have it if you are collecting.

John,
The new rules are mostly the same, but there are enough changes to make it worthwhile getting the mini book. Overall it is a plus for the game, as it makes monsters scarier. The monster rules are pretty well balanced most people would say.

In terms of other rules you have heroic strike and accuracy, movement penalties for shooting and special strikes along with a few more minor changes. Overall they are a plus, but some of them are never going to be used and some used all the time, so it could use some slight changes, but there isn't anything broken about them.
The new rules certainly add a different element to the game, which is good, so we won't ever be going back to the old rules.

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