Hello all,

First off, I am new to this forum and have been watching/reading posts for the past few weeks and have decided that this is a good place to start to get involved in the greater LOTR gaming community.

I have been playing miniature games since I was a kid and currently enjoy a mix of 40k, WFB, Dystopian Wars, FoW, etc. I started collecting and playing LOTR when the game was introduced but honestly I haven't devoted enough time to get into the game. For years I have been more of a collector/hobby enthusiast. Over that time I have amassed a sizeable collection of minis predominately Rohan/Gondor with a few random models thrown in for good measure.

I have recently dug out most of my LOTR minis a few months ago and started finishing up painting / converting as much as I can to get back into the game.

My first few questions to ask would be 1) what point level would be a good place to start to 'relearn' the rules, 2) has cavalry changed at all (don't know about the new rules for the Hobbit) and if so what, and finally 3) I have been looking at picking up an Evil army as well for variety and also for another chance to paint / convert new minis. My thoughts are either Easterlings, Haradrim or a mix of both (mainly want to paint a different color palette).

Thanks for reading and I look forward to contributing to the community down the road with some pics and tutorials I have developed over the years.

Cheers!

_________________
"Rohirrim! TO THE KING!"
See my WIP

Hey there,

If you want smallish games to just get the hang of the rules then starting at 250pts would probably be a good idea. Thats generally small enough to include a mix of warriors and heroes without having so much that you lose track of everything. General games are usually around 500pts.

Cavalry haven;t really changed much since the two towers book, golden rule with them is you want to keep moving and you want to charge instead of being charged.
You can no longer shield while mounted and if riders or rohan dismount of are thrown they have to pick whether to carry a bow or shield, not both unfortunately.
Oh also the general rule is that if a rider is killed the mount will run away unless it has an attack value, so horses will run but wargs may stay if they pass a courage test.

Harardrim and Easterlings can both field strong armies, together they should be just as effective. Best of luck with them.

Thanks for the tips!

I managed to pick up the Kingdoms of Men Sourcebook at a local gaming store.

After reading over the entries I was a little dissappointed to find that GW didn't fix some of the issues with Rohan since their introduction more than a decade ago (bows on riders, Theoden being sub par, no F6 heros). That being said I am still fond of cavalry and I am looking forward to getting a few games in. I have created a list of my current inventory of models and it appears I have most of my Rohan painted and ready to go.

I will get to working on some lists tonight for 250 points and probably get in a game or two with our local gaming club.

_________________
"Rohirrim! TO THE KING!"
See my WIP

If I remember correctly, throwing spears are big for Rohan. Also a Gondor with Rohan allies might be strong for larger games.

After putting together a few 250 point lists I managed to make my way to our local gaming store to play a few games with one of the regulars.

Here are the lists I used for the 3 games we played. All 250 points.

Army #1
Erkenbrand - Horse
9 RoR - RS, HW/S, Bow
3 RoR - RS, TS/S, Bow

Army #2
Erkenbrand - Horse
4 RoR - RS, HW/S, Bow

Grimbold
8 MoR - Helm, HW/Sh

Army #3
Faramir - HW/Sh, HA
6 Osg. Vets - HW/SH
6 MoMT - S/Sh

Damrod
6 Rangers - HW, Bows

We played a series of 3 random missions from the sourcebooks. My opponent also played themed lists to match against mine for fun. His first list was an Isengard force with scouts and uruks, the second was another Isengard list with a mix of pikes, shields, and crossbows, and lastly against my Gondor force he brought a Mordor list full of Morannon Orcs and Orc Trackers.

The end result after all three matches was 1 Victory and 2 Losses. The first all mounted list pulled out the first victory thanks in part to some lucky rolls on shooting and Erkenbrand being a stellar champion and slaughtering a large portion of the enemy force. The other two games were neck and neck for the majority of the game until a few failed rolls toward the end. All in all, the matches were all enjoyable and that's all that really matters. It's good to be back!

Now to up the points and play a few larger games. Looks like we might try a small narrative campaign starting at 250 and increasing to 750.

_________________
"Rohirrim! TO THE KING!"
See my WIP

Glad you had fun with it, that's the main thing. You might have missed it since the Hobbit rules were just released, but RoR no long count towards the bow limit, and throwing spear ranges are now 8". However, all bows and throwing weapons now suffer a -1 shooting penalty if you move at all.

The GW lords giveth to Rohan, and the GW lords taketh away...

We played with the new rules for the Hobbit. After my first few experiences with the new rules and what I can remember from my old experiences, Rohan are still my favorite army to field and use. Granted they might not have the best rules or stats, but that won't deter me from using them. Either way the throwing weapon range increase to 8" at -1 feels like an even trade off. I was able to skirmish my opponent with greater flexibility and be able to pick and choose when I wanted to engage. The RoR bow limit change was a great boon since now I don't have to worry about which ones are armed or not armed with bows.

One rule I have lived by since I started playing tabletop miniature games is, play the army that 1) looks awesome to you and 2) you would enjoy painting and collecting. Play style and rules come and go but the aesthetic and miniatures remain the same. As a hobbyist first and a gamer second some might laugh at me for being so shortsighted. Then again, I'm not the one that complains that my selected army isn't "competitive." I only complain when a sculpt doesn't appeal to me and then proceed to covert one to my liking!

_________________
"Rohirrim! TO THE KING!"
See my WIP

Don't they.


Good rules to live by.