As has been said often on here GW interest in this system already seems to be flagging, and after the release of TBoFA in december I can only see this disinterest increasing a pace. So what are peoples plans? Buy, buy, buy... while you can, give up and go play something else?,

I am thinking of stopping any further LOTR/HOBBIT purchases, (unless something totally jaw dropping comes out), leaving the system for a couple of years (cool off, get perspective, follow other numerous hobby interests more) and then when ready build Middle Earth forces (from the books not films) by kit bashing Historical/Fantasy miniatures readily available on the market.

But to be fair, this system has never been my main Wargaming interest, though it is the game I have played the most and enjoyed a lot.

My attention will mostly go to keeping my local SBG community alive (and expanding, if possible). Beacause owning loads of mini's won't do me any good if there's nobody to play against.

I'm (almost) finished with LotR - not that you can ever truly be finished, but I'm at the point where (with the exception of some finecast elites that I'm procrastinating on) I'm satisfied with the forces I have.

Hobbit wise I'm behind only on laketown and Rivendell Knights. I'm waiting to see if the Rivendell forces get an expansion in BOFA (since Elrond is at Dol Guldor, and I doubt he'd come alone) and the Laketown guard are bloody expensive so I'm waiting for a month where I end up with a) enough spare cash and b) the will to work on a project and c) a moment of utter insanity. If that Bard from the book ever gets released that might tempt me, too.

Long term, well it depends on BOFA and what GW does with it. If there's plastic kits I'm all in, if the troops are resin then I'll be more cautious.

After that, i'll drift to historicals and other companies products. I just bought Deadzone (that's fun) and will investigate other things like it. I'd like to play in the 40k universe a bit, but without the 40k rules (the game is boring as all hell and requires far too many models to be fun, I want a squad or platoon sized game, either a mod of Deadzone/infinity, or adapting something like the new Rick Priestly Gates of Antares game) but considering the prices of GW I'll probably just abandon it entirely. I enjoy the 40k fictional setting, but not enough to support GW after they kill off SBG.

The Perry Miniatures medievals are lovely, both the WotR stuff and the upcoming Agincourt sets. So that's an option.

I'm not overly concerned (on a purely selfish level) about the game dying out (though if the community survives that'd be wonderful and I'll still be part of it, hopefully) because I play solo - a lack of opponents isn't really a major bugbear for me.

LOTR mini's were around before the films, someone will eventually pick up the book rights and do models, or it will change scale again, who knows. There are still many ways to proxy the characters we have not seen in the film or in model form.
I don't see a need to buy buy buy, probably because I kept pace with it and bought the stuff I wanted, the stuff I passed on I can happily never see or wait until after the ebay wave stops. I know anyone who sells or buys after GW stops will be taking/taken advantage of an false pricing. when production stops it doesn't make models worth more, wait it out just like any vintage Star Wars toy collector, you will eventually get what you want for a good/fair price. Ebay is the last True supply and demand costing. So if you don't like prices you just don't buy and eventually the seller will list it for less and the market will be good. GW for some reason can't do this as they have proved that if you don't buy, they will raise the prices more.

As for me, I will be painting my backlog for another 20 years or more if I live that long. I will probably scoop up some things on ebay (poorly painted broken mini's are my favorite) for doing more conversions. But truth be told, if a fire burned my house to the ground, I don't care, they are only things, I don't need them. I will always be buying miniatures that I think look cool, that is the only reason I got into LOTR to begin with, but I will still be buying monsters and creatures and warriors from other model companies for many years to come. The hobby doesn't die when the films do.

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For myself I've been playing the game for a long time. I've slowly built up a large collection and have every edition of the rulebook. So I intend to continue playing with my gaming group and once my son is old enough introduce him to the game

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Much like sithious, I'll fill out my collection, but if something happens to them I'll be sad, but I won't worry about replacing them. I collect minis for rpg purposes, or for the joy of painting. Should my minis ever cease to exist, I'd be more upset that my dark sword collection was gone. Dark sword minis are my favorite.

I always wonder what data people are basing this opinion on when I see it mentioned. The UK tournament scene is thriving, the GBHL facebook group has 500 members, and the youtube channel has 1200 subscribers. Ebay prices for OOP miniatures is through the roof, and the forums are busy. The only interest I can see flagging is Games Workshop's own- they aren't supporting the game properly, but that hardly matters when you have a good community of eager and enthusiastic players.

As I said in another thread today, Bloodbowl, Necromunda and Mordheim are all examples of games Games Workshop no longer actively supports which are thriving due to the enthusiasm of the player community.

One thing that definitely drives people away from the hobby is negativity and re-enforcement of the myth that the game is dying: if you tell people that the game is dying then they will believe you, which consequently contributes to its death. Personally I think it's important to keep positive and take personal responsibility for enthusing others about SBG.

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I will keep moseying along. I sell off nothing Middle-earth related but I do have other gaming interests to entertain me when I get some time for it.

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+1 to everything mertaal said

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This. Lock thread (just kidding).

No need for negativity really, doesn't help anyone. Most of were here for the ~10 years after the films and did fine, even the last 3 or so years with little to no content was fine. This forum's still here isn't it?
Who cares what GW does as long as people are still playing the game? Never been a better time to be involved as far as I'm concerned.

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OERP

The game is a movie tie in, so the game will probably take a significant hit in popularity once the movies are done and forgotten about and the Hobbit fad is yesterdays news. But there have always been Tolkien fans and always will be. Gamers were wargaming Lordo f the Rings long before GW, they'll just be using a wider variety of models.

My hope is that GW releases all the rules as open source community rulebooks like Bloodbowl, allowing people to obtain free pdfs and continue playing. But Kirby et al, the people in charge are probably too spiteful for that.

So overall, I'm negative about GW's practices and its poor support for the game, but I'm positive about the SBG community and I'm positive about the huge range of alternative figures that will let people continue to wargame in Middle Earth post-GW.

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I agree. The game license was for movie product. However, it was a shame they never utilized the other portion of their license. The part which allowed them to make stuff up regarding things not in the movie, hence the golden king and about 99% of the easterlings. I would have loved to see a bree-land militia (basically a good guy version of wildmen of dunland), or folks from pelagrir. They could have made up so much stuff. They didn't have to have new rules associated with each of the cultures. They could have just released a bunch of lotr themed minis. It would have been pretty cool. Oh well, enjoy it while it lasts!

I have always thought about using all my miniatures for proxies for other wargames.

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As we speak I'm currently getting my head around the idea of using LotR models on movement trays to play Hail Caesar, to get that big "epic battle" feel, without resorting to WotR. SBG will always be my main love, but once in a while you can't beat moving large blocks of troops.

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I for one agree with you here, although there would always be people who find something to complain about. Extreme Tolkien purists, GW haters, [word deleted] children. People are even complaining about the Boar Riders! They could release more. They could make stuff up forever, and some people would enjoy it. But as time went on we'd see the minis getting more and more fantastical, as seen in dying years of LoTR. Warg Marauader anyone? Sooner or later we end up with a skirmish version of Fantasy Battle, and that is something i would happily stay away from. GW is never going to be able to please everyone (or apparently anyone), but they don't appear to be trying very hard.
Drifted way off topic here. I personally am one of the newer recruits; my models number less than 500. i doubt i will continue to push a dead game system that i am not very deep into after all. SBG will remain my one true love, but it's hard to love something after it's gone. despite my best efforts, i'll probably end up getting roped into 40k. but hopefully that won't be for years yet.

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I will continue to support SBG and collect models, I love LOTR and invested in my collection. Other game systems have come and gone for me but LOTR ticks all the boxes for me and I am betting it does for plenty of others.
I think the negative comments come from not being aware of how the Hobbit/LOTR SBG is doing very well due to its support from GBHL, event organisers and the community itself. Also I have no idea how the hobby is performing elsewhere, for example the US and in wider Europe?

Having a tournament a month, a yearly league and a youtube channel with regular content is nothing to sniff at – do many established games have that, the game has inspired all of them enough to do all that for free as well.

I bet for someone unaware of all this it does look quite dispiriting, the obvious winding down by GW with miniatures going oop and their general practices probably provokes these threads to lash out.

The task is to keep educating hobbit fans that this all exists and it’s not a game which is going to die out, even if GW support one day ends.

Well said Tom and others.

To answer the OP, rather than just moaning as I did before, my plans for SBG are as follows:

I plan on slowly working my way through the three LotR scenario books and published Hobbit scenarios, and ensuring I have enough models to play any scenario I want. I'm slightly over half way through the 2500 points of Isengard that I own, and plan on playing some big battles, possibly using the Hail Caesar rules. The good forces will mostly be a force of allied elves and men, and perhaps the odd Ent also, but I may choose to expand one good army to the same size as Isengard.
Meanwhile, I am ticking off various factions in 500 point lists. I'd like to be able to field a vaguely competitive army of Rohan, Gondor, High Elves, Galladhrim Elves, Old and New Dwarves, Isengard, Goblintown, Hunter Orcs, Mordor and Angmar.

Once I've completed my goal of at least 500 points in all the major factions I will concentrate on some minor ones like Army of the Dead, an all mounted Warg Rider list, and fun toys like an all troll force, etc.

SBG has a lot of advantages over other systems which perhaps fall by the roadside when they are no longer supported by the manufacturer.

The main advantage of course is the IP: it's middle earth. People will ALWAYS want to game in Middle Earth. It's not a fad, and it's not likely to die out in a hurry. It is, to be brief, the archetypal fantasy setting, from which all others derive.

The other great advantage of the game is that it is SIMPLE. I can teach someone to play the basics very easily, and it's the sort of game you can put down, not play for 6 months and come back to with 30 minutes of "refresher" reading.
Compare that to some of the more involved systems which really are labour intensive when it comes to rules chaff. Those games are difficult to teach and to enthuse new players about, and also hard to pick up yourself after even a short break.
So SBG is teachable, and light enough that it doesn't require an obsessive level of involvement. You can dip in and dip out of it quite easily, and keep coming back for more without giving yourself a hernia every time you try and remember how it works.

Lastly, eBay. I'm not going to claim that the game will ever be as popular as it was when the original LotR films were out. However, that's actually an advantage in a way. Over the last 10 years GW have sold vast, VAST amounts of miniatures. More than could ever be used at one time, even by a large and enthusiastic community. That means the models will always be in reasonable supply. There will always be collections of miniatures advertised on eBay, so that a new player can pick up the game and get involved without breaking the bank.
Sure, I imagine that some of the rarer character models will be hard to come by, and expensive too, but that just encourages creative types to convert those models, and for other companies to provide similar but non-IP breaching alternatives.

I know there's some resistance to using non-GW models to play SBG, and I do sympathise with people who want the forces of Gondor to look as they do in the films, and not for the visual images of the tabletop to be as varied as people's imaginings from the books.
However, so much of Tolkien influenced other fantasy universes that with careful choosing and sympathetic paint jobs a Red Box Games dwarf or elf would make a highly suitable Dwarven King, or elven stormcaller, to name but a few OOP models which people might want, but can't necessarily find.

Anyway, I could muse on for hours about my "future plans" for SBG. I really don't understand why a lack of support from the publisher would prevent someone from continuing to enjoy something they loved. Cult of the New?

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I have to keep expending my collections and then form a good group of guys to game with in my area. Also about the expensive clam packs if you all have forgotten there used to be metal packs of 3 troops and then a year later they released the boxes of 24 guys in it. But now they will just be 10.

+1 to both of mertaals comments

There is a huge amount of potential for the game after GW is done with it. They built a good platform and guidelines for many more additions to be made from the wider world of middle earth. I fully expect O-R to be going for another decade.

There is not much going on in my local area, but there are tournaments aplenty across Australia, so the hobby is definitely on the rise. I'm not anywhere near invested in the Hobbit films as I was with LOTR, neither are most people I know, but they are still going strong.

I plan to get one of everything, and once I have done that, get more and convert it and make community projects. People will be interested in learning to play and paint even though they may have been too young to see the films at release, so don't be surprised if there is a resurgence 5 years after the films.

In terms of playing the game, yes I expect a decline, but still expect there to be at least one tournament in my region each year (this is taking a negative approach and considering Australia is pretty sparsely populated). In truth, I expect the average number of tournaments to drop down to 3 a year, which is enough for me at the moment anyway.

i won't be picking up any other wargames unless there is a large community that sucks me in, but I'll wait and see. I did pick up X-Wing the other day, which I probably shouldn't have given the demographic around me, but you never know.

One last thing which is very important: I suspect we are all comparing the Middle Earth SBG to the 40k scene. 40k has been around for 27 years, basically twice as long as the current version of LOTR. The creativity in the 40k universe captured imaginations and Middle earth can do it just as well, if not better. Once there is more freedom with licencing and so on, there is room for a lot of expansion down the track. 40k was a niche market and still is as no-one really nailed space combat (for me), and lotr has its own niche market in the "fantasy" genre. I love medieval + medieval type fantasy and really despise science fiction except for Star Wars and 40k, so it just goes to show that its not just about the films. 40k is about the story for me, not the minis, hence why I have about 10, and LOTR is about the story too which will never get old.

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My trade thread
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=25957&p=325932#p325932

For those with doubts of the games future....Let this be the hour when we draw modelling knives and roll dice together. Old models can be re-painted, scenery re-built. Within these community portals... we will outlast them!

I plan to support my local hobbit hobby and continue to collect lotr mini's until I loose interest, but that's not very likely with 10 years+ going strong.

I have a number of small & large projects that will keep me going...for the next few years at least.

On my cutting board at the moment are three main projects;

- Blackwood Rangers
- Numenor Army
- Easterling Army

Maybe one day they will get completed

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King of the North!!

My WIP - viewtopic.php?f=50&t=28272
The Red Book of Westmarch