Alright so I played my first games yesterday and I must say that I very much like the system so far. There is still a few things however I'm not a 100% sure:

-We played 475 points each game and they took almost 3 hours each from start to finish. Is this a normal time frame for this game or can it go faster once we get use to it. If its relevant, first game was 25 models vs 14 and the second was 26 models vs 17.

-I found out that its really hard to wound in this game, but that if you rely on this too much, you might have trouble when someone becomes very lucky on his dices? I faced both Dwarves and Elves with my Angmar's orcs and there wasn't much of a difference in the score needed to wound, even though the dwarves are much more hardy and then elves.

That's about it. I don't think we will ever go higher then 500 points as it seemed to be the perfect balance in terme of time played, model moved and general enjoyment.

Thanks again for your input...

JN

I am sure you will get much quicker as you get familiar with your army and your opponants. a 2000 point game for us (4 players, 2v2) usually takes about 3 hours. Also, as your army grows, you will gain new weapons and tactics which will change how you feel about the wounding system =)

Glad you like the game! Yes, your games will get faster. Besides getting used to the rules, figuring out common strategies, and memorizing the pattern of the wound chart, you'll learn how and when you can roll multiple dice in the shoot phase, e.g.: if one model is shooting at one target, roll a green die and a red die (green = hit, red = wound); or if three shooters are shooting at three targets with the same chance to wound, roll 3 dice, take the hits and roll to wound.

As for wounding, this is where the tactics come in. It's rarely useful to charge line to line. You want to do what you can to maximize your chance to wound, and this means getting more dice into each fight, getting spear support into fights, trapping, etc. You'll learn how to use terrain to your advantage, ways to separate some of your opponents models from the rest of his army, use magic to neutralize heroes, flank with cavalry, etc.

Games will get much quicker! I've been re-learning the game since the release of the new 'army' books and have been playing 500 points in just under an hour.
As Whafrog says, the game is about getting lots of dice involved and maximising your chances of wounding.

Great,

Thank you all for your advices.

JN

If both players know what they're doing then 500pts takes 45-60 minutes, especially with the new rules and scenarios.

The Doubles GT allows 2 hours for 1000pts games in the newest rulespack, so that's a bit of a guide of how fast you're expected to play really.

As for wounding - it becomes very easy and fast once you learn the game properly. Yes, there is a lot of 6s required, but don't get put off by that. Killing someone on a 6 in LotR is equivalent to wounding someone on 4+ and then that someone having a 3+ armour save in terms of Warhammer (1/6 in LotR = 1/2 * 1/3 in Warhammer). LotR basically uses less dice for exactly the same effect. LotR saves time with requirements of rolling 6s, while many Warhammer or 40k players laugh at LotR being a game of 6s - they simply have no clue about most basic maths.

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Coordinator of the Great British Hobbit League

The great thing about LotR is that it actually uses armor the way it's meant to be used:Preventing wounds instead of "saving" them.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
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