Every Faction in Middle Earth SBG Explained 

Army of Lake-town won the UK Masters last year. I wouldn't regard them as an underdog ;)

Hey there, great video. Just a small tip. It would be really useful if you had put the name of the faction on screen every time you talk about a new faction, and maybe some timestamps. For someone who never played the game before and its not a native English speaker, it can get confusing if you just talk about the factions one after another without any obvious indication.

In the Hobbit book, Azog didn’t actually appear as a character. In the book Azog died long ago before the story began - although he is mentioned in the book. At the Battle of the Five Armies, the orc/goblin army was lead by Bolg, Azog’s grandson. So if you want to run a book-accurate version of Azog’s legions, you should use Bolg instead of Azog.

Kazad-Dum is still overshining the new dwarf armies, nothing can beat a Durin with iron guards

One thing to keep in mind if you’re playing Goblin Town is that you start taking courage tests based in the number of models you started with. So when the scribe brings in more warriors they don’t increase the number of models needed to break your army, but when killed do count towards the amount your opponent need to kill.

Amazing summary. I can really see this being super helpful for new players to appreciate how big this game really is. Well done!!

Really happy to find this channel, got a bunch of minis and looking to get back into the game after playing 8th and 9th edition 40k

Nobody gonna talk about how his Uruk Hai are green for some reason

Good to see that Isengard is still solid. I started playing in 2002. I remember getting the old TT starter set, the one that came with Uruks and Rohan. From that I built a pretty solid 500pt list for the Uruks. I ran a big pike block (15-20 total, can't remember exactly) with flankers (3 warriors, 3 beserkers on each flank). That block would then be buffed by a Captain w/banner with support from 8 crossbows. There might have been a few more misc models but that list was really fun to play.

Perfect timing as I'm just getting into the game! The blueish armour on your uruk-hai look great as well!

Awesome video dude. I have played this game for more than 12 years, and I think that in only 25 minutes you resume so well the armies. Cheers from Argentina

Khazad-dum is actually the original dwarf kingdom that existed in the Misty Mountains, before it was destroyed by orcs and renamed Moria “the Black Pit.”

Very concise! Loved all the information. I would love to see you take a deeper look into Isengard since it's the army you use in the future. Tactics and best units to use for what scenario, like when do you employ Grima in the enemy army etc...

I got so excited to start Far Harad after this....then I saw the GW store 😭

Thank you! I've been wondering what army to play and I'm pretty set on Rivendell now. Thanks again

Very accurate and useful guide to the armies! I was wondering about to start a new army but this video clear up my mind! Rangers of Ithilien are coming xD

im very sad, because of the laketown, i love that army models but i like challange, so i build laketown anyway! and the video is very helpful, you guys are my favorite mesbg content maker!

Two things, I absolutely love LOTR and am amazed that I’d never heard about this game until today. Secondly I play a lot of Total War and am deffffinitely seeing where a lot of influence came for the moderators for Third Age: Total War

This video has been so helpful as someone looking to get into the game but there are so many cool factions its still a hard decision! Really appreciate the content. Im between Halls of Thranduil, Gondor, Khazad-dûm and Isengard. I think I would like a good and evil but starting with one force for now.

Great info, love list writing and working out best and worst combos. I have been running a few 400 point comps (against myself very sadly) but Moria has blitzed everyone!! Rohan, glass cannon as always but can be great for certain scenarios. Left field shout out for army of the dead. With only one hero at 400 points then are almost horde!!

Thanks for the vid! It's been a while since I last played a tabletop game (used to do some skaven back in the day, before college and money became a thing), but this game looks really cool and actually economically doable!

Getting started with khazad-dum, all my models are waiting for me at the store once this lockdown ends and I'm really excited to find someone to test my skills against as soon as I can

Nice rundown, thanks for posting

you are seriously full of info,,you explain yourself well,,too well i think,,thx for sharing well done my friend

Hope my Arnor boys get some much needed love soon 😥

this is groovy and informational, A+

Armies are cool but the tower in the background definitely steals the show :)

That's a great video. I hoped I had this info when I started playing competitively. However I'm surprised to not see Goblintown at the top tier even though the finished 1st and 3rd at Ardacon.

Very helpful thanks for all your hard work

Great video for a new player like myself. Just started Isengard!

I Hope that Far harad will return! I loved the half Trolls and the DROMEDARS

Woo, love me some Isengard! What did you say Australia’s most competitive event was? I’d be interested in learning more.

Great video mate 👍

Your work is wonderful. I just uploaded a video showing a castle I was designing some years ago, which actually got quite large. LOL

You should double down on your tier list and actually rank them, then heads will roll 😂😂😂

Interesting that you only put Hobbits in the good tier. Back in the LOTR days, the only thing preventing Hobbits from dominating the game was how expensive they were. I fought a Hobbit army at 650 points with Gandalf the Grey and something like 71 hobbits for the final in a Indy GT in Florida, and my Minas Tirith army was just annihilated. I’m wondering if the warbands structure, requiring more heroes, has changed that equation.

Great video very helpful :). Thanks

LOL, great lengthy explanation of the Easterlings.

Nice videos, thanks man

Great video! Also love the bluish uruk hai armor

Very handy video for learning about factions, cheers. On another note where is that scenery from its amazing (the tree house stuff)

Just found this awesome channel! However, as possibly the only pure Army of Laketown player in the world, the army is absolutely in the GOOD tier, even edging into TOP. Nowhere else in the game can you get 5 point models that are F4 +rerolling. At the end of the day this game is about dice, and Laketown can throw endless bodies at the enemy to bog them down while Bard (a killer hero) does the dirty work. You use Alfrids rule to give might to the Master to get constant F4, becasue Laketowns green allies are the fantastic Thorin's company; giving you 3 combat beasts, a wizard, the AMAZING Bilbo, and more importantly- Bombur, who restores Alfrids will! I have a great win streak going with this army among friends, and when tournaments start again I can't wait to bring them!

How did you paint the blue Uruk-hai armour? It's super cool. Would love to do something similar. Oh, also, where did you end up getting your Arnor miniatures from? Thanks!

16:55 - Amazing Elven towers, where did you get these? Were they made by a hobbyist? Great video, essentially in such a vast sea of options.

Great review for a beginner thanks

Rivendell or Thranduil's Halls for me. Epic champions, cost a lot of points but can cause some trouble on the battlefield.

i would do loads of orces in a warband for sauron in a barad-dur army but honestly him pimped out with 24 black numenoreans with a mounted marshal (using a mouth of sauron kit with a lance converted on to represent his younger years) leading a dozen morgul knights seems cooler to me

Ooohhhh baby Shout out to my boys of Dale

Great video, but I’d be curious how you’d rate the Easterlings now. :)

Sounds like Numenor got done dirty, honestly. I understand game balance, but they were known for literal steel bows in the books.

Thank you for this video! I am still wondering whether to invest into the game or not. I like big monster units so I was looking at ents or eagles first and foremost. I know you said each army can win a tournament, but when it comes to heavily outnumbered heavy units, do they? How valuable are standard troops, and how big of a drawback is there when you have none?

It hurts to see you place the Easterlings in the same category as sharkey’s rouges when they have such great enemy hero assassination power with Amdur and the dragon knights gaining might back for killing heroes, and access to Khamul the Easterling on fell beast. I feel like the pike block is mainly to capture objectives and then die slowly. I would argue the easterlings are definitely a good army, especially with the addition of the two-attack dragon cult acolytes!

Me, just starting to play this game and having just bought my first models: Oh boy I can't wait to see how good my Fellowship is!

Where can I buy full sets still ? I used to have 2 huge armies many years back but sadly lost many moving about over the years . Would love to get back into it but struggling to find stores online that have enough available to get going again .

@conquest creations Do you have any recommendations for 2nd hand markets in order to acquire models from the Dead Men of Dunharrow? Ebay seems to be very limited and/or mainly metal sculpts. Please note ideally EU located. Thanks a lot and keep up the great work!

No joke, I've had a bunch of haradrim for almost a decade I've yet to even start painting

Very Well did

What advice would you give to a beginner such as myself when it comes to god websites to purchase modules from. Keep up the great content.

Right, so I had a question. Are you able to cross factions? Like, say Azog with hunters, and lurtz with scouts?

No mention of Dunlending??? Were these out when you made the video???

Dwarves are a dream army i hope to grab one day.

I wanted to do Gondor or elves but the starter was just too good to not get first, this I defaulted you Rohan. Still great video

I am LOSING my MIND trying to figure this out, in the background it looks like you have the Printable Scenery Elven set, mainly the Tower Aeternus and the gloomwood treehouse? but the one on the far left (thought was gloomwood treehouse) i cannot the model on their website, like it looks like gloomwood treehouse at the top almost exactly but the bottom is WAY too narrow, like it was p ut on a different tree trunk, can you explain what is going on? is this an older model?

Hi at 7.45 you mention "Australians most competitive event..." - I could not make out the words you said before that. Can you reply with the info of this event - or perhaps a link to get more info? Thanks

And what about the wanderers of the wild, I mean Murin, Drar, Tom Bombadil and Goldberry? Do you see them often or are they not used that many?

Tsym. I tried getting into the hobbit sbg (didn't know about the coming lotr one) but it was ridiculously expensive. Still disappointed about the forge world nazgul models, but I may be able to pick an army now lol.

one like for the next fantasy title for total war to be lotr

Been debating on joining this game saw some players and rolled a few had fun will join now what army

i bought the pelennor fields box set, which has a bunch of models but i dont know what to play. Rohan, Army of Dunharrow or Mordor? anyhelp would be appreciated

Great video. I personally got decent results using easterlings but I can't help but feel that they are not worth the hassle. They are close to being great, but still no cigar. The archers are mediocre, the upgrade too expensive, they lack killing power and even amdur needs a shaman to back him up to deal with D7 heroes and khamul's is a mediocre caster. It's like there's a bit "but" right after every good thing one can say about Easterlings

I'm just starting out my army is warriors of minus tirith any suggestions please

Excuse me. But there was a notable absence, WHERE IS DUNLEND????!?!?!?

Im wanting to start but i dont get how to have moria manual to see which units i can pick and how much does the they cost

I would like to get into the game with an evil competitive faction ...which one do u suggest to pick?

Not sure if i would start this game but i like easterlings so far just because of the looks. Seems like in every game the army i want to play is weak 😄

where the heck are you getting your Arnor figures? Hopefully GW does a re-release in plastic.

Cant find the easterling cav on the gw store, is it a FW kit??

I am new into the game and I need help building a good uruk hai list, please

Does anyone have any advice to getting figures? I see so many figures that I can’t seem to find out there

I want to make a serpent horde / far harad army. Is this possible? I am new.

thinking about getting into this finally, last time i decided to give it ago GW cancelled the game. They are not cheap so starting to invest and they pull the plug is an issue. So are they planning on keeping this in production for the long haul?

Would love to see time stamps on this

How to construct an army list for MESBG- for beginners: ru-vid.comiQ80ldvXt0g?feature=share

I have a question, my friend recently got into Warhammer tabletop and I was thinking about joining him but I knew of LOTR, Middle Earth SBG compatible with Warhammer at all? I do prefer lore matchups but I have no friends into tabletop and I prefer LOTR to Warhammer personally.

didn't mention corsair arbalests?

I wish Minas Morgul still had a dedicated faction, with a mix of cheap mordor's cheap orcs & elite, terror-causing black numenorians and angmar's ghostly spectres, with strong casters at the helm including kardush and the ringwraiths, including the witch-king himself, all with an army bonus to fit the tower of sorcery - maybe some sort of casting boost or penalty to resist rolls. mordor lacks the iconic spectres, angmar can't take the black numenorians, and the two factions have the worst alliance level with each other, so its really just not possible to run a classic lotrsbg style morgul list in modern mesbg matched play. Angmar & Mordor are both cool factions, but neither captures the spirit of my favorite oldschool lotrsbg faction.

Just out of curiosity: which are the least played army in middle earth?

Where can you even buy ents?

whats up witht he purple armor lol?

Where are the dunledings!?!

I'm starting my shire army

Muster the Rohirim!

I was really looking forward to buying some Games Workshop stuff with well made paintable miniatures that is not Warhammer ... Are they really that much better to paint compared to Warlord Games for example? I have some Bolt Action armies ... more leaning towards historical than fantasy.

Problem is you can't get figures for a big part of the factions...

Which faction is Legolas in?

Im saddened because that iron hills are hard to find…and expensive

My man just put easterlings as underdog Oh boiii

Where is Dunland? Did he just group them with Rohan because their legion in the Rohan book? Heresy! Heresy I tell you!

Did you forget Thal?

Australia clearly has a huge MEBG community. I just started, and almost all I see is Australian youtubers about it haha