The Armies of the Hobbit, Part I: Orcs!

Good morning gamers,

This post begins our discussion of the Armies of the Hobbit and like we did with the Armies of the Lord of the Rings, we'll be covering the Forces of Evil first (in two parts) and the Forces of Good after that. Unlike the Armies of the Lord of the Rings, we don't have previous sourcebooks to group things (and we don't have the old Legions of Middle-Earth book to guide us either). Ergo, we'll be grouping things by common types (Orcs, other Bad Guys, Dwarves, Men, other Good Guys). It should be fun.

1) The New Lists: Azog's Hunters, Azog's Legion, Dark Powers of Dol Guldur

These three lists are, in many ways, one list broken out in to three parts (if you ignore their army bonuses): many of the warrior choices provided in these lists are shared across the others: both of the Warrior options for the Azog's Hunters list are available in the Dark Powers of Dol Guldur list (hereafter Dark Powers), and the Dark Powers list also has access to the Gundabad Orc Warriors available in the Azog's Legion list. While there are some unique warrior choices across the Azog's Legion and Dark Powers lists, by and large you get the same feel from a warrior-perspective no matter which of these lists you choose.

Where these lists differ is in their heroes - Azog's Hunters have average-defense heroes, all of which can be mounted (and with Expert Rider on many of them, there's good reason to do so). Azog's Legion has barely any hero optons, but most of them are/can be heavily armored. The Dark Powers list provides you with the Necromancer and the Nazgul, along with several other generic hero options and the Keeper of the Dungeons (powerhouse options abound). When looking at the lists, the heroes are what make the greatest difference between them (and should come to the forefront of your decisions about what kind of army to get).

Heroic Strength: The Fellowship of the Red-Headed Step Children (Or, Why Heroic Strength isn’t Always a Total Waste of your Might Point)

In Tiberius's write-up on the new heroic actions, he took a detailed look at what each of them do and when you might call them based on their utility. All but two were found at least some utility. The unfortunate misfits? Heroic Shoot and Heroic Strength.

Following Thumper's maxim, I shan't say anything about Heroic Shoot. But I read Tiberius's post shortly after a TMAT Tournament where I made frequent (albeit unexpected) use of Heroic Strength in all three of my matches. While it's not the sort of heroic action you would automatically call every turn, I believe there are situations--and several of them--where it adds clear value. 

Tiberius was kind enough to give me a chance to explain. So here's the first of three write-ups examining the case for Heroic Strength. 

(Also, there be some maths ahead...)

Weapon Swaps: When Is It Worth It?

Good morning gamers,

In this post, we’ll be covering a new mechanism that’s been added to army creation in the new book: weapon swaps. Each model in the game has a base equipment item that he carries (most models don’t have any choices, a few have anywhere from two to four options). Non-unique models have the ability to change their weapon for 1 point/model for warriors and 5 points/model for heroes to a different type (sword to axe), though it keeps the same weapon class (single-handed, hand-and-a-half, or two-handed). In this post, we’ll explore all five types of special strikes and look at models that benefit from a weapon swap to that weapon type and why.

Revisiting Magic: Magic in the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game

Good morning gamers,

We're taking a brief aside today to do a write-up on an element of the new game that I've been thinking about for a while: the new magic system. For those familiar with the Hobbit Strategy Battle Game magic system, life isn't TOO different. However, my gaming group didn't adopt this system of magic, so there's quite a bit changed (and some of those changes will still apply to Hobbit SBG players). One of the most popular posts on our blog is a post I did back in 2013 on Ringwraiths and magic - you should look at it if you haven't gotten the chance.

Note: this post has been edited to reflect the Armies of the Hobbit errata that gave Curse to the Necromancer again.

Heroic Actions: What's Worth the Cost?

Good morning gamers,

Today we’re talking about Heroic Actions – we got a boat load of them since the LOTR SBG first began and a handful more than we had in the Hobbit SBG. Today we’ll be talking about what they are, which ones are worth calling, which ones are SITUATIONALLY worth calling, and which ones are basically never worth calling.