The warbands aren't a rule change...just an army building change (and scenario/deploy to go with it).The core SBG rules haven't changed since the OneRing book was released and I would hate to see GW muck them up now 'just because'.

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Wait ye the finish! The fight is not yours.
Beowulf

http://TacticsInMiniature.com

You have to remember marketing strategy though. They are producing a new product that they want to reach a wide audience, so they make more money. They marketed LotR very aggressively, even selling the products in bookstores and other places that generally don't carry that sort of product (Borders in the states was a big carrier of the LotR line). They cannot produce a high item product for a game and not include a manual for how to play the game. Moreover, as new models and lines come out they will have the difficulty they are facing now with the vastness of the LotR line, but multiplied by two...All of these things point to a new manual. Does it mean a complete overhaul of the rules, not necessarily, but I guarantee there will be some significant changes with will entice those who want to continue with the line and the game to buy the new books. My only hope is that these 5 books anticipate that change and that their profiles were published in order to help LotR models make a smooth transition into The Hobbit game. I expect the first inderation to be a skirmish style game . . . perhaps limiting the number of warbands each party is allowed. But I guess we just need wait two months until we know for sure.

I suppose they'll just create SBG profiles for everyone (and forget WOTR ever existed...).

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

Btw I am not an administrator but I don't think this thread belongs to the "News and Rumors " section of the forum, but it belongs instead to "General Discussion".

Wanna know what I think starter set will be?
gandalf + bilbo + dwarves + goblins and goblin king.... maybe also some wargs or such and scenery that has to do with the cave, or better saying the goblin king throne room

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http://33.media.tumblr.com/c5d31d12524c ... o1_500.gif

All of the "starter" sets thus far have taken an iconic moment in the movie and then added basic rules and enough forces for a game or two.

FOTR: Last Alliance good guys, and uh, Goblins. But we sort of ignore that.
TTT: Riders of Rohan and Uruk Hai.
ROTK: Gondorian soldiers and Mordor orcs.
Mines of Moria - Fellowship and a bunch of Goblins.

We don't know what the iconic moment for the first Hobbit movie will be - there's a swirl of rumours, but its possible its the Goblin Town sequence.
So...
starter set:
bit of scenery
goblins+ goblin king
dwarves+bilbo
rulebook
dice

5 plastic sprues? Sounds about right, sounds doable.

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Dreaming of getting back to painting...any month now.

aelfwine


I hope so But I have a feeling it might be Bilbo's trolls


One of my many attempts to visualize a Goblin throne room

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I don't think the troll scene will have the kind of minis required for a starter set, unless they include a warband of orcs.

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"Leave Sauron to me."
If you're in the Raleigh, NC area, let me know.

The steps on the right look so real.

They'll probably just release a Hobbit box set, including redesigned rule book, plastic company, goblin sprue, dice and some Misty mountain scenery. The rule book might have to be a hobbit part one supplement though as they add more models with each release of the movies

And that is why I said that I was afraid that was what they were going to do. I am sure I don't need to remind you that GW views rule as a mechanism to sell models to 12 year old children. The Trolls are more interesting to my children.That could be because of the Hobbit cartoon or that may be the part of the book they like best.I have notice over the years that the younger children prefer the larger models like The D&D Red Dragon or my giants and trolls.If GW applies a toy sales model to this product then we could very well see a useless, as far as the present known game system, product. GW also has a nasty habit of changing rules and army list to force you to buy new books and models.
GW new customers don't have any thing invested in the SBG. They will be interested in the Hobbit. I hope the rules won't be radically different but will not be surprised if they are.

I can envision a troll scenario involving how many dwarves a troll can stuff into a bag before the wizard shows up. It would actually appeal to younger children. It is not something I would want to play more than once---- much like most of GW scenarios.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Thanks

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I doubt that the rules will be modified much more than the changes in the new sourcebooks- soon, White Dwarf is going to give us some hint, however small, of the hobbit and its new merchandise. So we may well have model(s) by Christmas. Surely GW wont update the rules for some time, not now they've published new sourcebooks, certainly not before then. (However I know those of you who have greater knowledge of GW and its marketing strategy can blow this argument out of the water.)

Your argument is both reasonable and rational but we are talking about GW. I hope you are correct.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Hahaha!! So do I. I want to spend money on figures, not endless rulebooks!

P.S. That piece of goblin town scenery is spectacular. Its so professional, better than professional! I am left speechless, honestly!

Thanks guys I ended up cannibalizing those parts for something else. I will have to do another.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

You destroyed those stairs! Why!

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Destroyed is the wrong word I used them for something else. I can make more.

I used most of the parts for walkways for Goblin Town and the lake.

You can see more stairs and another eye wall in the background.

If you can't tell I have my fingers crossed for a Goblin Town set.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I see, it looks at least as good if not better, as always

Still, cannabal!

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Less than 3 months to go before we find out. My money if on Thorin & Company, plus Gandalf and Bilbo versus some goblins, a goblin chief, at least one troll and possibly a handful of the northern wolves/wargs. And maybe a couple of scenery pieces. A starter version of the rules - enough to play with the minis in the box, softcover and possibly A5 sized. A few dice. A couple of the polythene measuring sticks like GW have been including in big box sets for donkeys years now (donkeys years is Irish for a very long time).

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