I’ve been a collector of MESBG since they were first released. I have been able to build numerous armies over the years but I’ve never been able to play the game. I recently started 40K and AOS with a few friends, and now I’ve convinced them to try out SBG with me….. I want to start with Lothlorien, but this video made me rethink bringing Galadriel for my first game! Haha
Excellent video, getting back into the game after a long hiatus. Introduced a friend to the game in what I thought would be a one-off battle before we went on to him showing me Bolt Action the following week. Next thing I know, he's bought the Osgilliath box, the Mordor host, and a Troll Chieftain so I guess we're going to be playing a lot more, lol. I've been sending your videos to him to help introduce him to things (especially as I'm from the LotRSBG days and have no clue what the difference is between the different hero tiers).
As someone who is currently collecting a Rohan army I can tell you that if you want to play them as seen in the film they are not anywhere near a cheap army! You’re looking at a whole heap of heroes and tons of riders plus dismounts. For an ineffective list that new starters will lose every game with maybe they are cheap but I don’t feel it’s a fair place to put them.. moderate to high for sure!
Idk if this is a good tip but IF you are getting rohan like i did for my first army there is something i wish i did earlier and that is play a split of cavalry and warriors, so buy the battlehost and then grimbolds command pack and you are so set for great games! Having grimbold just boosts your troops and lets you remain in the game if you happen to get all your cav killed early (which honestly is very easy to do when you are new) Grimbold just gives value to all the 24 warriors you get in the battlehost box and you get a banner which is awesome!
I just started my starting army about a week ago. I chose Moira because my friend said he wants to play kazad dun, and I love how many playstyles, originally I wanted to do rivendell but there something about having the opportunity to build beast/spider armies, giant monster army's or horde spam is so refreshing. Another intresting thing is in my nearby store where I buy all my board game stuff they never have any LOTR SBG ever. But last week when I went they had 1 model which was the balrog...it must have been a sign lol
I’m a sucker for good. I started with Rohan, then dabbled into Minas Tirith, then got sucked into Fiefdoms, and then got a character for Rivendell, so I started collecting Rivendell! 😅
I started with Azog's Hunters and just fell in love with Azog's Legion and Dark Powers of Dol Guldor. I honestly love these armies because of the flexibility of builds (cav, infantry, monsters) and how many of them can be convenient allies with other cool armies like Dark Denizens and Moria. They also have some of the best value heroes at low points and a couple of the best evil heroes in the game. TLDR: I love the orc armies from the Hobbit rulebooks.
Its a great starting point and it gives you so many options. You can also play it as the Pits of Dol Guldur Legendary legion. Creating a Hunter Orc horde is high up on my list of my next potential army. This is the list I am thinking of building 699 points | 30 models Dark Powers of Dol Guldur, Azog's Legion The Necromancer of Dol Guldur: (250) 16x Hunter Orc (128) 2x Hunter Orc: Orc Bow (18) Hunter Orc Captain: (45) 5x Hunter Orc: Orc Bow (45) 1x Fell Warg (8) Gundabad Orc Captain: Shield (55) 1x Gundabad Troll: Crushing Club (120) 2x Gundabad Berserker (30) I am not convinced its the best but compelling a hero forwards then hitting them with a crushing club sounds fun
@@ConquestCreations The trolls and the berserkers are definitely a fun inclusion! Could always switch the hunter orc captain for one of the Nazgul to make use of the army bonus. I was actually thinking of a similar list earlier today but was going to build it with two or three Nazgul, some mirkwood spiders, and a couple of Castellons throne in (Which were not on my radar until I listened to the Last Alliance of Newbs and Men's Dol Guldur tier list)
When I was entering the game, I wanted to make the Return of the King legendary legion, but in my country, the army of the dead was not available. So, then decided to choose between dwarves and Rohan. And seeing that many of my wargame group played Rohan, decided to go with dwarves. And after seeing the models, and not liking very much the Iron Hills... Went with Khazad-Dum, and oh, boy, oh boy. What a great decision. Loved painting them and playing with them and still is my favorite army. Later on, I got lucky and was finally able to build the RotK legendary legion, and after that, I built Lurtz Scouts legion. I mean, I'm 3 models away from completing my army, but I'm very close haha And after that, I'm thinking of building a Shire list. Really want to, but oh man... They're super difficult to get (in my country) and they're expensive af... But we'll see, we'll see hahaha Still. Always building an army is great and fun!
I stated with Rohan which were pretty weak but fun, then I got a bunch of Royal Guard proxies and this made my Rohan boys much more competitive. I really Enjoy Helms legendary legion as he is such a good sculpt and it’s fun having a model that can throw down. I enjoy how many characters the faction has and painting horses is great fun! You can experiment with different colours and patterns. Next I collected Mordor and enjoy having the witch king casting but am yet to get the hang of the army. I keep losing with them… But they are fun too
Rohan hit really hard. I have a video going out this week of Rohan Vs Mordor. Rohan is great because they have access to so many legendary legions that you will never get bored of them there are so many different play styles
are you spying on me? got dragged down the rabbit hole last week & was starting to plan my first army. Always loved the dwarves, so was leaning towards the iron hills until I saw the price of infantry. Based on your suggestions, will probably go for either Thror & add Dain later or Isengard
I would add that if the army you like is primarily Finecast, strongly consider another faction, especially if you are new to miniatures entirely. The MESBG Finecast range in particular is horrible to work with
For someone who is totally new to miniatures I do agree. Plastic will be a lot easier. I am working on my Army of Lake Town which is time consuming to clean and assemble but the level of details on the models is great
Whelp, I'm brand new to the game (coming from a 40k background) and picked up the Fellowship because I love them & wanted to play as the iconic heroes. Guess it's an uphill slog in front of me...
In terms of competitive play they are on the tricky side. The great thing is that a huge portion of this game is narrative play and there are heaps of scenarios to play them in that are really well balanced.
I'm a relatively new 40k player (about 1.5 years), and I've definitely been wanting to try out MESBG. Especially with the new edition being announced. Do you think it's a good idea to wait for the new edition to jump into the game? I figured I could just get whatever launch box they have for it. Also, I see The Hobbit and LOTR being talked about separately in a lot of places. Are the armies of each able to play in the same games and with he same rules, or is there some kind of separation? I got the Fellowship box just to have fun painting with my wife (they can also be used as TTRPG minis). Thanks for any advice.
Pick the most fun army. When it comes to the books, just find some free PDFs online. They are way too big an investment for a new player. Rule book, Hobbit armies, and LOTR armies. And then they aren't even up to date with the changes. They set you back €150. And these are just the basic books. For those prices you can get a bunch of miniatures. Plus, you don't have to carry them around.
I was surprised to see an all grim hammer army as number 1, due to lack of spear supports you need to do some difficult maneuvering to get enough of your models in combat
are riders of rohan really a bad choice for beginners? I shared 2 Battle of pelennor boxes with a friend got about 6 rohan royal knights, merry and dernhelm gamling and hama. I wanted to play the legendary legion but I fear i bit more of than i can chew as a noob
They can be tricky if you go with all Cavalry just because if you make a few small mistakes and miss out on getting a big cavalry charge you can fall apart really quickly. But everyone needs to start somewhere and the best way to learn is just getting stuck in! If you are keen to play them then they are the best choice for you. They have a really high skill cap so you wont ever get bored of them. I have a battle report coming out this week with them so you can see how they play.
Dumb question here But I don't know much about the game: when playing the game, is it always one player is good and the other plays evil? If not, of one player takes gandalf, is the other player locked out of playing him. I'm used to other wargames where same faction fights are common.
Thanks for the comment! Welcome to Middle Earth. Each player creates their army independently so any army can fight against any army and if you both have the same characters that is totally fine. Given how many factions there are its a rare occurrence!
They are in the upper side of moderate because they are lower model count. Factions like Mahud and Army of Lake Town are significantly above the cost of Iron Hills
Actually just checked the price for them, for some reason thier warband isn't available anymore that had 12 infantry and was expensive but reasonable. In packs of 3 troops they are expensive
when I got into the game, I bought an Angmar and Rohan Army, took me a while to win with Angmar but god damn are they fun to play, unfortunatly however, the nearest place where they play MESBG is like 4 hours away and with 2 kids that's a little hard, but I do play pretty often on TTS. don't know what army to try next though.
Thanks for the comment, If you enjoyed Angmar and you wanted something similar but different you could try the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur with the Necromancer, a few Mirkwood spiders, a Nazgul, a Castellan, and as many orcs as you can fit in
First bit of advice is best. Choose the army you find coolest. I started off on the second hand market got a full rohan army for £30 on ebay and most pre painted. Only thing is what do I do if I end up getting most of the armies or I start getting towards the 10,000 uruk hai that storm helms deep?
I totally agree, it will always be more fun to get the armies that excite you. Getting all the armies would is an incredible feat. Its definitely a life goal of mine but I am only 14/43 in 10 years so I am not to worried about running out
Maybe go with the Mordor Battle Host for a variety of troops. Alternatively you could try to get the evil half of the Osgiliath box for a solid base for Army of Gothmog LL, but you will have a second Troll you may not need (if you build one with changeable heads/arms). Alternatively get a generic nazgul on Horse and foot and maybe the Moranon command to try different playstyles.
Thanks for the comment! The great thing is that you have a heap of options. I really recomend having a banner so you can grab one in the Morranon Orc Command pack which also comes with a captain and a few other good units. It will allow you to make this list which will be a lot of fun. 498 points | 27 models Mordor The Witch-King of Angmar: Crown of Morgul, Morgul Blade, Fell Beast, Might x3, Fate x3, Will x4 (205) 6x Morannon Orc: Shield (48) 6x Morannon Orc: Shield, Spear (54) 1x Morannon Orc: Shield, Spear, Banner (34) Morannon Orc Captain: Two-handed weapon (55) 6x Morannon Orc: Shield (48) 6x Morannon Orc: Shield, Spear (54) If you wanted to try something a bit different you could grab the Morgul Knights box. This comes with a banner in it that you can either glue onto an Orc or just put on one of the riders. It would allow you to make this list: 499 points | 18 models Mordor The Witch-King of Angmar: Crown of Morgul, Morgul Blade, Fell Beast, Might x3, Fate x3, Will x4 (205) 5x Morannon Orc: Shield (40) 6x Morannon Orc: Shield, Spear (54) 2x Morgul Knight (36) 1x Morgul Knight: Banner (43) Black Numenorean Marshal: Armoured horse, Lance (85) 2x Morgul Knight (36) It will be tricky to play it correctly so don't expect it to be an easy ride but once you get the hang of it, it will be very solid
But I don't want to crush my opponents. I want to have a fun time with my opponents where we both come away feeling like we want to play each other again.
I chose Mordor for my first army. I found the amount of options overwhelming so I’m building towards the army of Gothmog and black gate opens legendary legions. The LLs really help direct list building, especially for new players.
I got mordor out of a trade for aos miniatures. They really are overwhelming sometimes. I've been between doing an angmar list or cirith ungol and cannot decide
Thanks for the comment! There are a tonne of options but while you are just starting out just pick between regular orcs or Moranon orcs, chuck a few heroes in and you are good to go. You can always worry about the other units once you have a hang of the game
@ConquestCreations I got one morannon orc, so I made him a captain. Been loving the game so far and it's inspired me to actually paint. Your videos have been helpful
I always thought serpent horde was a good list to start with Suladan's 6 inch banner is really forgiving, plus they have two plastic kits so with Suladan, a box of warriors, a box of raiders and the mounted king you can get a pretty good 400 point army. Then either add in some elites, another hero (Raza) or and ally to get to 500.
In terms of plastic kits its definitely good. In game its a bit of a glass hammer but you can horde out with it. It is definitely a good choice for someone interested in starting. I reckon this list based on the kits you recommended is a fantastic starting point 399 points | 29 models The Serpent Horde Suladan the Serpent Lord: Armoured horse (115) 5x Haradrim Warrior: Spear (35) 6x Haradrim Warrior: Bow with poisoned arrows (42) 4x Haradrim Raider: War Spear (48) Haradrim King: Horse, War spear (75) 6x Haradrim Warrior: Spear (42) 6x Haradrim Warrior: Bow with poisoned arrows (42)
What army do you pla... CLAP SNAP! THE BLACK CRACK! GRIP GRAB PINCH AND NAB! BATTER AND BEAT! MAKE EM STAMMER AND...SQUEAK! POUND POUND FAAAR UNDERGROUUUND! DOWN DOWN DOWN IN GOBLIN TOWN!
I am building Khazad Dum (Balin's Expedition). I like being able to take a nuke to the face and ask for more. I am also a short guy with a beard. I also really like the Vault Warden team. Simple as
Do you think Army of the Dead will be mostly the same in the new edition? I just started with them as per this recommendation, and am worried im wasting my time now. 😢
I went with AOL as I like orcs/goblin, bows and wargs Azog hunter was a bit expensive (forgeworld🤮) I want to try far harad tho, but all that metal is daunting (and expensive) Anyway I got my first "tutorial" game this monday!
I’m wanting to get back into mesbg I currently have the battle for osgiliath and escape from Goblin town. I like the look of the undead and army of Thror. I’ve noticed in battle reports the undead army has Aragon on horse . As a beginner should I go Aragon or the 3 hunters
Great video! Many thanks! :) I am returning to the game after... well 23 years. I bought second hand a big Angmar army because I love the theme and the Witch King, and it came with the Fellowship and Thorin's company. I also have some old minis from Rohan and Isengard. So, should I skip Angmar until I am ready and try with some other thing? I have the most minis of Angmar (a lot of points actually) and I like it the most, but it appeared in the hard list. hehe thanks for your videos!
You can definitely dive into the deep end which will be a trial by fire. The good thing is that there is a lot of overlap between the Angmar and Mordor armies. For your first few games just play at 200 points with 2 orc captains and a bunch of orcs this will help you get the hang of it before getting bigger.
A beginners first army is gonna really effect the learning curve for them. I definitely recommend ministhrih, mordor or isanguard. They have a bit of everything that will teach the basic mechanics of the game, not to punishing.
I started with Minas tirith hoping to ally in some dol Amroth….and then picked up some halls of thranduil allying in some Beornings….because rule of cool right?!
Been wanting to get into tabletop for a while. Only thing scaring me is the painting because I absolutely suck at drawing or anything related to art. How hard is it to actually paint miniatures decent as an absolut noob? And can you repaint miniatures if you botch it or want to repaint it in the future?
Thanks for the comment, great questions. Mini painting is very much its own thing. I am not good at drawing or traditional 2d painting but think of myself as a pretty good miniature painter. To get a good looking result isn't to difficult it is mainly just time consuming. Miniatures can always be repainted over. I buy second hand miniatures all the time and just paint right over them
@@ConquestCreations thank you so much for reply. This convinced me to buy the battle of Osgiliath starter set. What is your estimate on how long it would take to paint the whole set?
I wish we really did have all the green alliances from the books. The real last alliance represented by a green alliance would be totally awesome. Rivendell, Numenor, Khazad-dûm, Mirkwood and Lothlorien. Or Rivendell and Rangers.
Thanks for the comment! Beornings are a legendary legion rather than a faction which is why they missed out on the list. Overall I reckon the fit into Medium for learning the game and for cost. It is nice to start the game with some models that are almost unkillable!
@@ConquestCreations Right, sorry I forgot they're a legendary legion, they feel like a proper faction because you can't play them otherwise. They're pricy but you need very few models. Tanks for the reply!
The best build would be in the Return of the King Legendary Legion. I would go for the King, Aragorn, Legolass, 2 riders of the dead and then as many bodies as possible. I would take a shield on every single Army of the Dead
@@ConquestCreations Thank you so much, your channel is insane, sure it help the game to continue so much. What kind of ratio spear/sword you think is the best. And people who play against it have really bad time or is it okay? i heard its a bit not fun to play against it, dont want to bring bad mood at my local store before buy ^^
@@skytoss6762 I would go for roughly 50/50. It can be tricky for other new players who don't understand how to face it but for experienced players it would be just as fun as any other army
Also I think you are biased with Army of Thror, as a 5" movement army is often frustrating for newer players, even if they are hard to kill. Minas Tirith is also easier with the amount of plastic kits to branch out.
We created a kit called Battlezone: Mars which unfortunately was a major commercial flop so for the time being we will stay in our wheel house of fantasy. Its really important to me that the terrain is designed for the games and Middle Earth is the only game I am currently playing so I am not as sure on the rules interactions for the other games
