Do you think there'll be a new starter set like EFGT for the third hobbit fillm, based around 5 Armies?

I guess that book will move from skirmish-based played to full battles, so making a larger kit with less characters and more the foundations of an army to play with more like the 40K and WHFB could tie into this, get the start of elf/man/dwarf and orc/warg armies?

Or is this just wishful thinking? I'd like to buy Goblin Town but I hundred percent see myself not painting/using the vile Goblin miniatures.

One Can only hope...
It's really hard to know. We were all 100% sure there would be a DoS set, and then...

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I think there will be a starter but I don't think it'll be as you described. Only because that doesn't follow any precedent for LOTR starters.
I'm completely unsure what it will actually contain lol. The last two have been hero heavy but with a 'horde unit as well, while the original 3 didn't even have heroes.

At a guess maybe some Orcs and Dwarf Warriors from the Iron Hills

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Its optimistic but I think There and Back Again's release will be just like DoS. Sourcebook and Finecast/ Plastic Releases.

For the sake of army cost, I hope they don't release all of the troop units as Finecast 3 packs...

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Perhaps the lack of a DoS set was because of the decision to turn the films into a trilogy, and GW hadn't prepared for a new set.

Although it's kinda unlikely seeing as GW had plenty of warning.

There were actually a lot of us on here who weren't expecting a starter set. We were hoping for one, but we didn't expect it. I could see a small number of elves, a small number of humans and a small number of dwarves fighting an equal number of orcs and wargs. Maybe some new bats. Maybe 24 on each side?

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I reckon we could get a sprue of Iron Hill Dwarves, a sprue of Elven Warriors, Warg Riders and Orcs if we're lucky to get anything.

So 12 Elves, 12 Dwarves, and hopefully 24 Orcs and 6 Warg Riders. Throw in some men as well and that'd be suitably "epic" for the Battle of the 5 Armies.

Who remembers the smaller scale game where the kit had the full 5 armies plus Beorn and everything?

I don't think that there will be a second "starter set" for the next film. I do think we'll see more plastic releases. I think the reason we ended up with a bunch of Finecast releases for DoS is because of the change to 3 films.

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From a model perspective a new Starter set for movie 3 would be great. However, I would very annoyed if I had to buy a new big rulebook for the second time in three years.

A BoFA starter set would make a lot of sense to me marketing-wise, a great "one-stop-shop" to get all the pieces for a big battle. It would likely be expensive though...

I think the best hope for a starter set is the appearance of the Lake Town scenery, and the absence Lake Town scenarios in the DoS book.

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I don't think so since there wasn't any for the second film. Unlike LOTR, when the rules were very new and undeveloped, there is now no huge need to release new rules every year.

So don't release new rules with it. Just a starter boxed set with a collection of minis and perhaps an exclusive one or two would be appreciated. Kind of like the Return of the King-era battleforce boxed sets that were (at the time) the only places you could get Aragorn the King on foot and Gothmog on foot...

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It is a good marketing technique to get people into the game and would make sense. Two "armies", orcs vs dwarves I would think would be the most likely. A rulebook is basically a given as you would need it to get people into the game. I'm not sure that GW will be doing it, but it does make a lot of sense and I'm pretty sure the ROTK starter set was the best selling, even though it was the last movie, so its still a chance.

Most likely they didn't know what was going to be in the DoS so didn't bother with a starter set and the fact it was supposed to be released only 6 months later - not enough time to clear stock.

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I doubt it. I think Laketown will be a largish terrain box set with a supplementary set or sets to allow people to enlarge their town if they so desire - extra piers/walkways and a separate set for houses/towers. And bear in mind, Laketown will probably go up in smoke within the first 15-20 minutes of film 3 courtesy of Smaug, and the main scenes of that film will be the action around Dol Guldur and the Battle of the Five Armies.

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Well if we look at the likely forces for 5 Armies it's Wargs/Orcs vs Men/Dwarves/Elves.

WHFB has 70 models in total, including elites, commanders and core.

So I would be hopeful for:
Dain Ironfoot and 15-20 Iron Hills Dwarves, hopefully in heavy armour.
Thranduil on a Elk hopefully and 15-20 Elves on foot, or have elves as the cavalry?
Bard and 15-20 men.
Bolg/Azog and a bunch of 6 calvary (Wargs) and Dol Guldur orcs.

Maybe a warband of each and then multiple warbands of orcs and wargs.

Now that would be awesome. I wish they'd bring those sets back, or have newer updated versions, I bought the Easterling one and I'd certainly buy a Dol-Guldor one for BOFA.
If they made one for each of the 5 armies that'd be awesome! Wont happen but it'd be cool

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Honestly, I think some kind of pack like this is likely because the nature of these miniatures is a "Strategy Battle Game". The Battle for Five Armies is *the* largescale battle of the tale that I'm sure GW had in their minds (at least to some degree) when deliberating on whether or not to invest in SBG for the Hobbit.

I can see them staying with EFGT to be honest. I bet it will still say limited edition even in a couple years time.

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