The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game

The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game is GW's third-biggest game, based on, guess what, The Lord of the Rings. It has a skirmish-style character remniscent of 40k, but turns into one hell of a clusterfuck and slowed down in large scale games.

History

Back in 2001 (you may feel old now), the New Zealand director Peter Jackson (who you might remember from his cult hit, Braindead (or Dead Alive, depending on where you live), a flick that greatly pleased Khorne for being one of the bloodiest movies of all time) did what was thought for decades to be impossible: to turn J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books into movies. Ending up as a 10+ hours behemoth of a trilogy, it made more money than a battle barge filled with Slaaneshi whores. GW, having a keen nose for when someone makes more money than they do, approached New Line Cinema (film studio behind the movies), Italian publisher Deagostini (famous for publishing collector's items and DIY kits, subscription-based and once piece at a time over the span of years), and Tolkien's heirs in one of the biggest crack-conspiracies this side of Snowflame: make that shit into a tabletop strategy game.

So back in the day of 3rd edition and 6th edition, the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game took the world by force. What is surprising is that there's a lot of plastic to go around, and you get a shitton of dudes (20-24 models compared to 40k's 10-16 per basic troop choice) in the boxed set. Yes, there's quite some metal and finecast to go around, but it's surprisingly cheap to make yourself a LotRSBG army.

Story

... really? Fine. It's Lord of the Rings. Everywhere from the Battle of the Last Alliance to the Battle of the Black Gate. That's about it.

Army Building

Army building in LotRSBG is pretty easy. You must have at least one hero and a roster of at least three models, to a maximum of 50, 75 or 100, depending if you play a 0-500, 501-1000 or 1001-1500 game. War machines are limited similary in a 0-2, 0-3 or 0-4 amount. One special rule though is that no matter the size, no more than 33% of your army may be armed with ranged weapons. Heroes count for this limit, though throwing weapons are an exception to this rule.

For the rest, anything goes. Goblin swarms? Cave trolls everywhere? Motherfucking Sauron supported by a few guys? You name it. If you feel that your army is lacking in something, you can pick an allied contigent. There is no limit to how many allies you can field, as long as they include at least one hero.

Gameplay

The game plays more like 40k than like WFB: you have models that can move freely from each other, mounted on the same 20/40mm bases 40k uses. The game has four phases: Priority, Movement, Shooting and Combat.

Priority

The turn structure in this game is radically different from, say, WFB, in that the players don't take turns, they instead play phase to phase. This turn determines who goes first: each player rolls a d6, the winner goes first. Draws are re-rolled. The guy with priority moves, shoots and determines in what order combat is fought. Roll every turn for this.

Sometimes certain events for the mission/effects on models take place during this phase as well.

Movement

Nearly everyone moves 6" in this game: Dorfs and Goblins go 5", hobbits go 4", cavalry goes 12", and various monsters and flies go different speeds. Movement is halved in difficult terrain, certain models are immune to this. Certain kinds of movement (climbing, jumping and so on) require dice rolls: 1 is a failure and might result in injury, 2-5 is regular success and the terrain is treated as difficult, a 6 is a success and the terrain is treated as open.

Charging takes place in this phase as well and uses your regular speed: if you're not charging you are to remain 1" from the enemy. Throwing weapons can be used at any point on a charge: if you kill your target you may freely charge another target.

Most kinds of magic are cast in this phase as well: spend a Will point (more on this later) and roll a d6 against a spell: if you equal or pass the number the spell is cast.

Shooting

If you want to shoot, you get to move up to half of your regular movement, rounded down. With crossbows and rock-throwing you can't move at all. Shooting is against a static number on your profile, which is unmodified by range or cover. Models fire one by one, determining who wants to shoot, see if the target's in range, roll to hit, roll to wound, target may role any saves it has (rare in SBG), and continue.

Compared to 40k and WFB, shooting is shit in SBG. Most ranged weapons are only strength 2 or 3, and when you have to roll against a toughness 6 you're not going to do that much damage. In this game, it's all about quantity over quality when it comes to shooting.

Combat

This is where the game gets nasty. Combat is determined by rolling a d6 for every point of Attack you have. The highest roll wins: draws are determined by the Fight value a model has. If this is a draw, roll another d6: on a 4+ the guy with priority wins. If a model is beaten in combat it is pushed back 1", if it is not killed it stays there. If you win, you again roll dice equal to your attack: if you meet the To Wound roll (very often a 5+ unless when faced with tough enemies or if your army sucks) the target dies, no overkill. There are three kinds of special weapons: two-handed weapons give you a -1 penalty on the Fight roll and a +1 bonus on the to wound roll, spears let models unengaded in combat who have an allied model who is in combat support their ally, giving them a +1 attack bonus (no limit), and pikes do the same as spears, but can support a guy who's already supporing an ally. Models armed with shields can forego the chance to wound their enemies by blocking: a model that's blocking doubles its attacks for the purpose of the Fight round, but if they win they cannot injure their enemy. Great for creating tarpits, surviving and trolling your opponent. You do not gain bonuses from allies with spears/pikes if you block.

Now, since wounding your targets requires rather high rolls (5+ and 6+), few models tend to die each turn. Games would take a long time if not for for the Breaking rule: the moment more than 50% of your army is dead, you start rolling for Breaking. 2d6+a model's Courage: if this is equal to or greater than 10, you pass. If not, squad fucking broken. If a hero makes his roll, every model within 6" of him can use his Courage, which especially in armies with low Courage can be a game-saver.

Heroic Stats

Your heroes possess special stats, namely Might, Will and Fate. These start with fixed numbers and cannot be regained during battle, aside from a few special rules.

• Might can increase any roll related to a hero by one point, be it in the movement, shooting or combat phase. Aragorn is notable for having a free point every turn, allowing him to curbstomp pretty much anything thrown at him, especialy if he's armed with Andúril
• Will is used to cast and resist spells. You can use as many as you like to try and cast a spell, though one good roll suffices to cast. Most powerful wizards (Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel) can use a free point of will per turn. The Ringwraiths are special in that they start with a LOT of Will (7 in their weakest form, up to 20 for the Witch King and the Undying at full power), lost a point every time they fight in combat, and disappear if they run out.
• Fate are one-use saves against killing blows: on a 4+ you ignore a wound that would otherwise put a model out of action. Sauron equipped with the One Ring has a 2+ save, as if killing him wasn't difficult enough already.

Armies

Games of TLotRSBG always take place between two armies: good and evil. No exceptions. There is, luckily enough, more than enough flavor to go between divided between the forces.

Forces of Good

• The Northern Kingdoms. The fallen kingdom of Arnor, the Rangers of the North, the Shire and the Fellowship of the Ring. The first two are small lists heavily focussed on rangers; the latter even has a way around the 33% rule. Hobbits are a fun (as in Dwarf Fortress) in that their models suck donkey balls, but can tear new assholes based sheerly on numbers. They got a fuckton of named heroes and are surprisingly good archers. The Fellowship of the Ring should be avoided unless you're playing certain scenarios.
• The Elven Havens. The High Elves will fuck your shit up. Highly skilled warriors, some of the deadliest heroes in the game, and Cavalry that makes you roll for Anal Circumference. Their obvious downside is their high cost.
• The Woodland Realms. Though not as tough as their High Elven cousins, the Wood Elves will fuck you up from range. The deadliest archers on the side of good, they are just as deadly in combat as their High Elven cousins, they're just not as good at taking the pain. Also, Ents.
• Rohan. FUCK YEAH LAND-BOUND VIKING CAVALRY. If you play Rohan and you don't field your entire army on horseback, you're doing it wrong. Rohan has awesome light cavalry, and everyone gets bonuses to their Toughness for having shields, irregardless if they have bows. They also have throwing weapons everywhere, half a dozen named asskickers in their main list, and get bonues for avoiding obstacles while on horseback. Their downside is that they tend to get swarmed due to their large bases and (relatively) small numbers.
• Gondor. Despite having to call for aid, they are tough badasses. Heavily armored, a large number of warriors to choose from, heavy cavalry and King Elessar himself, Gondor is not to be underestimated. Other armies of note include the Rangers of Ithilien (guys from the end of the second movie), the Army of the Dead from the third, and the beautiful Fiefdoms list, consisting of some amazing heavy cavalry and the only pikes in the armies of good, monster-slaying archers, halberdiers lead by a gigantic fatass, and SCOTSMEN WITH FUCKHUEG SWORDS.
• The Dwarven Holds. The Dorfs in LotR are tough little fucks. Nearly impossible to wound with ranged weapons and only killable in combat with lucky hits, prepare for long drawn-out battles against Durin's Folk. Costed somewhere in between the Gondorians and the High Elves, Dwarves have the ability to outlast most of your enemies due to their insano toughness. Fun to note is that though they have become the arch-blueprint of what it means to be a Dwarf, they themselves use swords and bows, un-Dwarven weapons to the same people who threw raging bitchfits at that one picture from the Hobbit movie showcasing the Dwarves.
• The Champions of Good. These are the heroes not fitting in with the other armies, including the Woses, Sméagol, Radagast the Brown, and the Eagles

Forces of Evil

• The Misty Mountains. Your prime source for Goblins: though not very tough, brave or strong, you will drown your enemies in a green(ish) tide. Don't forget to open up a can or two of trollolo on your enemie: they're not very expensive if you use a few. Remember: heroes can be as cheap as 35 points. Use this.
• Isengard. Where the Hobbits are taken. The Uruk-Hai are a force to be reckoned with: with Strength 4 they can punch lesser men to death with ease. Also, the only force to use crossbows and the only evil force to use pikes, so make them count.
• Mordor. The lists of the Dark Lord are as extensive as they are deadly. Less tough than most Good warriors, Orcs rely on numbers to win the day. Unless you start to use the different breeds of Orcs of course: the Morannon Orcs who are stronger and better armored: the Mordor Uruk-Hai who are as strong and bold as their Isengard cousins, and the dreaded Black Guard of Barad-Dûr, who can slay lesesr heroes with ease. Not to be overlooked are the Black Men of Númenór, who are a disciplined, albeit pricy, choice. These lists have some brilliant heroes, including Sauron himself, the Mouth of Sauron (who got butchered like a chump in the extended run of Return of the King), Gothmog (he lead the siege on Minas Tirith), and Shagrat of Minas Morgul (who with his blonde hair, meat cleaver sword and I FUCK YOU UP attitude is pretty much channeling Viral).
• The Eastern Kingdoms. You might remember these as the guys from the second movie who didn't do all that much. They are tough, disciplined and have some pretty kickass characters, including the Dragon Knights and War Priests who use their outlandish weapons and styles to overcome their enemies. The others, the men of Khand, are basically Mongols.
• The Southlands. There are only a few reasons to take these lists. One, they have pirates. Two, they have Suladân and the Serpent Horde, light-armored warriors with poisoned bows, horses and a fuckton of friends. Three: the War-Mumak of Harad, the biggest non-terrain model GW has ever made outside of Forge World. Also, camel cavalry, half-trolls and ogre men, but who gives a fuck about them?
• Champions of Evil. These include the Balrog, Dragons, and the motherfucking Nazgûl, who have all been given names, stats and different rules over the course of years.

Round-up

The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game has its own charm over 40k and WFB, mainly due to its setting and smaller scale. Games tend to turn into clusterfucks pretty fast though (only play games of 1k+ points if you like the idea of eating your own balls in a fit of RAGE), and the way the turns are played are off-putting at first, but the game can be a lot of fun if you have Howard Shore blasting in the background.