Top 5 Predictions (Hopes?) for the Arnor Supplement

Hey Reader!

As you probably know, there's a new supplement coming out for the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, and it's going to center around Arnor (and likely Angmar, considering the history), so of course we have to do a quick talk on what we anticipate will be in the new supplement! So after a few weeks of pulling together thoughts and ideas, here's my predictions (or probably hopes, to be honest) of what we'd love to see in the new book.

It's worth noting before we begin that I'm the resident Arnor player (and one of the resident Angmar players) in our group, and I've always been a bigger fan of the northern kingdom than the southern kingdom. So I'm pumped that we're getting a new supplement, and want it to be the best one they've ever made (though surpassing Scouring of the Shire is going to be hard).

So with no further ado, our top 5 hopes for the new book!

#5: New Scenarios Tied to Arnor's History

In the Ruin of Arnor supplement from back in the day, there were 6 scenarios, spanning the initial invasion of Arnor through to the death of Arathorn and the rise of Aragorn as chief of the Dunedain. And these scenarios were fine - like many of the old scenarios they are pretty sparse, but good on them for integrating more than just the Angmar and the Arnor models into the mix: you get Dunlendings, Dwarves, and Hobbits as well, all of which is great.

I'd love to see this expanded to include a scenario where the Great Plague is spreading to Arnor, the first incursion of Angmar against Arnor which sacks Amon Sul and causes all of Rhudaur to fall into the hands of Angmar, another scenario with the sacking of Fornost and the driving of Arvedui toward Forochel while his son and most of his people flee west of the Lune, and then the arrival of Earnur from Gondor with reinforcements to aid Arnor and Cirdan of the Grey Havens in pushing deep into Angmar to crush the Witch-King and his minions.

I'd also love to see a scenario showing Aragorn (and possibly also Arathorn) holding the thin line against the forces of evil, showing the desperate plight of those that held to the honorable task of protecting the ancient kingdom of evil things. This would make for a very interesting and exciting set of narrative scenarios that would be awesome for a game day and possibly an intro to the game for new players (which we absolutely love).

#4: New Units for Relevant Armies

We already know we're getting new cavalry models for Arnor, and who knows: maybe we'll even get a cavalry option for Arvedui! But even if we don't, there are more things I'm hoping we get in the new supplement.

First, I hope we get new heroes for Arnor, much like we did with Dale back when Defense of the North came out, to flesh out the faction and give more options than what we have right now. Since we're adding some horsemen, it would also be nice if at least one of these new heroes (Aranarth, son of Arvedui?) could be mounted as well.

Second, I hope we get new Angmar options, including some of the hillmen of Rhudaur who broke away from Arnor to join Angmar (maybe giving a decent skirmish option to Angmar?), and maybe a Plagued Warrior (or something like that), with a rule similar to the Tainted where being in base contact with him would cause you to suffer a wound on a roll of a 6, as he spreads the Great Plague to you via close contact with him.

And third, I'm hoping that they continue with using factions that are beyond Arnor and Angmar, including the elves of the Grey Havens under Cirdan, the dwarves of the Blue Mountains (as we had in the old supplement), Dunlendings and other wild men from the southlands near Tharbad, and this could possibly be a place for integrating Hobbit-era armies into Lord of the Rings territory, as Gundabad is active as a stronghold of evil at the time (and wouldn't be cleansed of orcs until after the fall of Angmar).

But perhaps most of all, take this opportunity to actually flesh out the Rangers faction. Not only was this part of the old supplement, but between the rise of the chieftains of the Dunedain, all the way to the life and death of Arathorn and the rise of Aragorn. But currently we don't have a way of doing that leadup history, and I'd love to see them amp this up in the future (possibly using the ideas Rythbryt had for giving more variety and flexibility to the army here and here). But more on that later.

#3: New Arnor Infantry Sprues

Right now you can get Rangers of Middle Earth in plastic sprues, 24 at a time, which is awesome. And these are great back-rank models for any Arnor army. You can also get metal hobbit archers, and if they're in stock, you can get metal Warriors of Arnor...but that's the issue most people think about when it comes to starting an Arnor force: how hard it is to get Arnor models.

I hope that they restock the range, and ideally do so with plastic sculpts which are both more affordable and updated for being an army in 2024, as the old sculpts are very, very old, and in need of an update. So it would be awesome to have a new infantry sprue for Arnor, which in the long run would also likely be cheaper for them to produce.

And of course this could also lead to the creation of an Arnor Battlehost, using warriors, rangers, and the two lead heroes, as they already have an "Angmar Battlehost" in the Mordor Battlehost. So very easy to get people into the game with the new supplement. But new infantry sprues cost about $10,000 USD to make, so I understand if this is a bit of an ask.

#2: New Legendary Legions

I think we need 8 new legendary legions tied to this book (which is a lot, but not the most we've ever seen), spanning the wide range of history tied to Arnor and the nations associated with them.

For the Forces of Good, I'd love to see a legendary legion tied to Arvedui's defense of Arnor, bringing in new special rules and meeting needs, not unlike the Garrison of Dale legendary legion. I think we should also have a Estel's Household legendary legion for the rangers that are defending the north, including Aragorn, Halbarad, Elrohir and Elladan, Dunedain, Grey Company, and possibly new profiles to flesh them out. We should also get a Blue Mountains dwarf legion, with models primarily from Khazad Dum but with additional crossover models like the goat riders from Iron Hills to make them feel unique, while also driving sales from other parts of the range (being led by a Dwarf King, or they could create a new profile if they wanted to). And I think we should have an Earnur's Host legendary legion, combining Gondorian forces under Earnur, Arnor forces under Aranarth, and Rivendell forces under Cirdan - the largest assembly of men and elves since the Last Alliance (and would have similar restrictions for heroes and warriors as we see from the Men of the West legendary legion to encourage taking a wide range of heroes).

Tack onto these new ways to play early Arnor and early Rangers as part of the standard list, and you've got a lot of cool stuff that will be interesting on the table and thematically strong.

And of course we also need four new legendary legions for evil (because I really like it when they're even), so I recommend a Witch-King Invasion legion which focuses on orcs, trolls, wargs, and the three Angmar Nazgul, a Great Plague legion centered around barrow wights, shades, and spectral warriors (not unlike my idea for a legendary legion here), a Border Raiders legendary legion for the Dunlendings, Gundabad orcs, and Rhudaur Hillmen that attacked the edges of the kingdom and took Tharbad following the end of the kingdom of Angmar, and a Wastes of Forochel legendary legion using just cave trolls, wild wargs, Wild Warg Chieftains, and maybe a new Cave Troll Chieftain profile (that just uses the current cave troll model, just with some extra kitbashing) as your entire army. It would be glorious (and let's be honest: this is a Centaur post, so of course monsters were going to make an appearance).

All of this would be a shot in the arm to so much of the community: interesting new options for game play, twists on current armies you'd see at tournaments, reasons to still play the Vanilla versions of each army, and the hobbyists get to knock themselves out with cool kitbashing and painting schemes. It's a win-win-win-win.

#1: Affordable Prices

Probably the biggest thing I'm hoping for is that the prices for everything won't explode. If the book is smaller like Scouring of the Shire and Rise of the Necromancer, make it more like the price of Scouring of the Shire. If it's larger like Quest of the Ringbearer, Gondor at War, or Defense of the North, price it accordingly. But don't inflate the prices: try to keep it about the same.

This may mean slightly less art, slightly less full-color two-page spreads, and other things that could cause the price to increase to produce the book, but I think it can only help sales if the price is affordable to get new people to take a look at new armies. Especially if initial investments are being put in for new sprues and models, as this will help to drive the profit margin for those investments.

Conclusion

The truth is, by this point, the book is probably in editing and post-production, but to be honest, considering how well Defense of the North was made, and how much Scouring of the Shire fleshed out two very, very small factions, it would not surprise me if the team came up with an absolute knockout supplement here. So here's to the team, and best wishes to them: we can't wait to spend our money on it!

Watching the stars,

Centaur

"We watch the skies for the great tides of evil or change that are sometimes marked there." ~ Firenze, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix