[quote="JamesR"]I have to disagree with Crixalis just on the appeal of over-the-top weapons etc. I have never seen a WHF miniature I even liked (or thought "wow that looks amazing, etc.") and very few 40k mini's as well. Fantasy is extremely cartoonish which kills it in my book, I hate the over-exaggeration,

I have to agree with James R, I just don't see the Warhammer aesthetic as realistic or credible, and frankly a lot of it as frankly silly (with the exception of some of the Forgeworld machinery).

And if I wasn't clear in my post - I agree completely too!

My thought was just that maybe at lot of people into fantasy games *are* into the more unrealistic over-the-top look of some other fantasy systems.

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WIP thread: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=25860

Beasts of War have 2 new videos of a Kings of War battle. Compared to a lot of other systems, this is a very quick, easy to learn and play game, and it is undeniably great fun. I am contemplating modifying the rules slightly and creating a Middle-earth adaptation - the hardest part will be balancing model capabilities and the points values.
What I am getting at is that one of the thngs that may count against the LotR/Hobbit games is that people see them as too complicated and 'limiting' in terms of the canonical history in the books and films.
Anyways, here are links to the videos - watch for yourselves and see what you think:
http://www.beastsofwar.com/kings-of-war ... me-part-1/
http://www.beastsofwar.com/kings-of-war ... me-part-2/

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

The future is not without hope!

If GW lets LOTR/TH slowly die, this will open up opportunities to let other miniature companies take over Middle earth. Their may be other developers with their own great ideas for a lotr wargame, so even if GW abandons us, we may not be left for dead. Of the course, the problem is that No other miniature company is as big as GW so how could it ever be as popular?

I also agree with some of the others. The LOTR/TH realism in the miniatures is absolutely golden.

I do fear for the future of our hobby and I must admit that I am about to start Warhammer 40K, partly because it will be so much easier to find people to play against and to get involved in, and it is a much more sustainable hobby, for the reasons already discussed in this thread. Also...it is kinda cool.

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My old WIP thread - http://www.one-ring.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16246&start=0

My biggest issues with another company taking over would be;

1: Collecting new forces of armies I already have.
2: The possibility of not using my existing collection for official tournaments and being railroaded into the new armies. Ala GW, Warmahordes, FoW, all the major tournament games.
3: Would the new company keep the same aesthetic as the GW sculpts? While designed by Weta, im sure GW's sculpts are trademarked to themselves and theres more chance of hell freezing over than them shareing it, leading to...
4: The two collections not fitting together at all thematically. The same as the old Citadel line and the newer GW line.
5: Would it even be the same scale? 28mm heroic next to existing 25mm trues would look horrific. 20mm/32mm would look even worse!

I imagine, should they drop the line entirely, that many of us would simply drop out of the Hobby entirely, playing in local clubs/leagues/tournaments without collecting too much in the way of the new stuff without having a mass of disposable income.

The films will never be so big again. There might be a small surge in another decade when PJ releases the 25 year anniversary super extended addition with a load more cut content, but it'll never reach the hights it once did.

LotR SBG is much like the Elves of the first age, long ago faded and passed. There might be surges now and then, but the glory days are past.

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Essex, UK based SBG/WOTR player!

My SBG WIP thread.

[quote="samoht"]The future is not without hope!

If GW lets LOTR/TH slowly die, this will open up opportunities to let other miniature companies take over Middle earth. Their may be other developers with their own great ideas for a lotr wargame, so even if GW abandons us, we may not be left for dead.

If another company took over, the present game would be scrapped, there is no way a smaller company (because that is the only reality at the moment!) is going to want to pay for 2 sets of intellectual property rights (to the film company/PaulZaents as well as G.W. for their gaming system and miniature range, when it can develop its own rules in house).

Also the majority of manufacturers are a long way from GW's standard of miniature production and quality, and anything inferior next to the present range for most players would be unacceptable.

It does seem a shame that they do not really seem to be pushing the game at all! They do have a massive back catalogue of miniatures but metal is expensive and I don't know anyone who has bought fine cast troops (essentially due to the massive price and the poor quality of casting), and they have stopped converting the old range. With metals essentially bein phased out and finecast being a commercial disaster it seems very sad that the range is just going to disappear!

Guys have any of you tried lotr heroclix? Heroclix is one of the best miniatures games out there and the hobbit/lotr range have good sculpts, and are rather powerful in game too! Give it a go!