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[WotR] The War on Rings!
Mr_Rose
83 Blue Ridge Protects the HolyRegistered User regular
83 Blue Ridge Protects the HolyRegistered User regular
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring
Introduction:
Wait, what? What's with all the rings?
In case you were living under a rock around five years ago, there were some pretty popular films made based on the even more popular high-fantasy tome that is JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."
The War of the Ring is Games Workshop's second tabletop miniature battle game based on the films and book, designed to make playing out the massed battles depicted therein possible within the lifespan of the Sun. This was necessary because the first game (The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game) was a skirmish game designed to allow nine heroes to take on fifty goblins and win (or get swamped and die horribly) and did not scale that well to 9,000 Men of Gondor vs 50,000 Orcs, not that people haven't tried.
So this is a wargame based on a film based on a book about tiny men with furry feet?
Sort of; the game is technically based directly on the book and includes stuff not found in the films (like the last two Wizards that travelled into the East and were never heard from again), it just happens to have also licensed the art and visual style of the films, including the likenesses of the principals so in theory your Galadriel miniatures should look like Cate Blanchett.
As for the tiny men and their feet, they are in there, but the game is mostly about pretending that little plastic dudes are hitting each other with swords. Or clubs. Or big rocks. Or...you get the idea.
How's it work then?
First you need two players, each with an army to command, then you need a table, some terrain, a tape measure and dice. Lots of dice. Once you have assembled all these in some convenient location in four-dimensional spacetime, you can get down to the gritty business of hacking the other guy's army to shreds (figuratively speaking of course).
You do this by assembling your men into 'companies' of eight infantry or two cavalry on a movement tray, which are in turn assembled into 'formations' of between one and nine companies each. You can also have individual large creatures (monsters) and unique Legendary Formations which you can have only one of. In addition, you will need an Epic Hero to lead your army into battle. Epic Heroes are all named characters from the Lord of the Rings books, such as Gandalf the Grey, the nine Ringwraiths and Wormtongue.
Once your army is assembled, you move your formations around the table in an attempt to get into or avoid contact with the enemy, manoeuvring your little mans into the best position from which to strike with bow or blade.
So it's just like Chess except I have to paint my pawns?
Well, in the sense that you are simulating a battle using small plastic figures, yes. However the similarity ends there; WotR, like most tabletop wargames, allows for much more free-form movement than the squares-based system of Chess. Formations can move in nearly any direction from the outset for instance. Also unlike Chess, combat in The War of the Ring is not pre-determined - there is a strong random element, mediated by dice rolls, that makes the outcome of any individual clash of formations uncertain.
Wait, it's all random? What's the point then?
Not at all; whilst dice are used to allow for the possibility of odd occurrences, most of the game revolves around combining the various bonuses and penalties that can be accrued from terrain, charging, magical effects and psychology in order to stack the odds in your favour. The point is to have fun matching wits against your opponent who is mostly trying to do exactly the same thing to you....
Forces and Factions:
Choose your side
There are several factions that you can choose your army from, and some of them can also ally with each other (see Good and evil below). The factions are:
Men of Gondor - stalwart defenders of Middle Earth
The greatest realm of Man in the Third Age, Gondor stands as a mighty bulwark between the evil of Mordor and the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth. Peace for other lands is bought only through the unceasing vigiliance of Gondor, its mightiest city Minas Tirith and its Captains, Knights and Warriors, but its inhabitants pay a heavy price for the freedom of others - as the ruins of Osgiliath are testament to.
Elves - the Elite's Elite, the glory of the Elves evokes terror in all who oppose them
Immortal, unchanging, the Elves are the firstborn, the eldest race in all Middle-Earth, but in the time of the Third Age they are dwindling and slowly passing into the West from whence they came. The haven of Rivendell and the woodland realm of Lothlórien are two of the last bastions of the Elves, but such is the power of their people that even in their last days does Sauron fear them.
Dwarves - the unbreakable wall, extremely well armoured and courageous in all things
Like the Elves, the Dwarves are a dwindling race now that Men have risen to prominence, but in all other respects they have little in common. Short and squat where Elves are tall and fair, the Dwarves live in underground kingdoms carved from the rock of mountains and love mineral wealth above all else.
Riders of Rohan - Raiders and horsemen par excellence
Rohan is the kingdom of the Rohirrim, a warlike people descended from Eorl the Young who was gifted the Riddermark in return for the great service he provided to Gondor in time of peril. Indeed, Rohan is still Gondor's most important ally, for few enemies can withstand a cavalry charge of the Rohirrim.
The Forgotten Realms - everything else, from Hobbits to Ents to Wizards and Eagles.
From Arnor and the Shire, far to the North and West of Gondor come the Dunedain Rangers, scions of the line of Gondorian kings, together with the halflings whose lands they protected. Even as Isengard rose against Gondor, the hidden might of Fangorn was roused by those same halflings to come to the aid of Men.
Mordor - Sauron's own legions, cruel and powerful
The dwelling place of Sauron himself, in the tower of Barad-Dûr, Mordor is an evil, dark land infested by the Orcs and Trolls that make up the bulk of his armies. The Witch-King leads them from the terrifying city of Minas Morgul, once a bastion of Gondor over which it looks, and upon the Plains of Gorgoroth within a ring of three mighty mountain ranges lies Mount Doom itself, where Sauron forged his Rings of Power - and the One Ring to rule them all.
Misty Mountains - the Goblins of Moria and their associated monsters
The mighty underground Kingdom of Moria, founded by the Dwarf King Durin, was a haven of the Dwarves for thousands of years until their mining delved too far and awoke the Balrog that drove them from their realm. Now infested with Goblins and Trolls, Moria is an evil place that travellers of sane mind avoid.
Isengard - the traitor Saruman's dark host of mighty Uruk-hai
Originally a Citadel guarding the western approaches to Gondor, in Saruman's time Isengard and the Tower of Orthanc became an evil place, harbouring his armies of Uruk-Hai and Warg Riders until it was pulled down by the Ents of nearby Fangorn.
The Fallen Kingdoms - the tainted Men of the East and their mighty war-beasts
The far-flung lands of Rhûn and Khand, far to the east of Middle-Earth, are the home of the Easterlings and the Variags, races of Men who fight willingly for Sauron. The great land of Harad lies far to the south of Gondor and is inhabitated by many tribes of the Haradrim who constantly war with one another. A land of deserts and great plains, the Haradrim are a hardy folk who now fight for Sauron.
Good and Evil
In the LotR books, there is a pretty clear dividing line between "the good guys" and "the bad guys" which is carried over into the game. There are therefore two sets of factions divided between the alignments ("Good" and "Evil") who can ally with other factions of the same alignment but not with the other side. Not that this means a Good force can't fight another Good force (or Evil fight Evil) - after all some of Sauron's most cunning ploys pitted friend against friend, and Orcs need no excuse to fight each other.
When choosing your forces, you can choose any one good or evil faction (except the Forgotten Kingdoms) then select your formations from that army list. You can then also include up to one quarter of your list as allied forces from the other lists that share your alignment.
Finding out more:
Informative websites
Games Workshop's own introduction to WotR
Quickstart Rules (print in booklet form, if your printer does it, for best effect).
A basic Scenario w/forces.
Introduction:
Wait, what? What's with all the rings?
In case you were living under a rock around five years ago, there were some pretty popular films made based on the even more popular high-fantasy tome that is JRR Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."
The War of the Ring is Games Workshop's second tabletop miniature battle game based on the films and book, designed to make playing out the massed battles depicted therein possible within the lifespan of the Sun. This was necessary because the first game (The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game) was a skirmish game designed to allow nine heroes to take on fifty goblins and win (or get swamped and die horribly) and did not scale that well to 9,000 Men of Gondor vs 50,000 Orcs, not that people haven't tried.
So this is a wargame based on a film based on a book about tiny men with furry feet?
Sort of; the game is technically based directly on the book and includes stuff not found in the films (like the last two Wizards that travelled into the East and were never heard from again), it just happens to have also licensed the art and visual style of the films, including the likenesses of the principals so in theory your Galadriel miniatures should look like Cate Blanchett.
As for the tiny men and their feet, they are in there, but the game is mostly about pretending that little plastic dudes are hitting each other with swords. Or clubs. Or big rocks. Or...you get the idea.
How's it work then?
First you need two players, each with an army to command, then you need a table, some terrain, a tape measure and dice. Lots of dice. Once you have assembled all these in some convenient location in four-dimensional spacetime, you can get down to the gritty business of hacking the other guy's army to shreds (figuratively speaking of course).
You do this by assembling your men into 'companies' of eight infantry or two cavalry on a movement tray, which are in turn assembled into 'formations' of between one and nine companies each. You can also have individual large creatures (monsters) and unique Legendary Formations which you can have only one of. In addition, you will need an Epic Hero to lead your army into battle. Epic Heroes are all named characters from the Lord of the Rings books, such as Gandalf the Grey, the nine Ringwraiths and Wormtongue.
Once your army is assembled, you move your formations around the table in an attempt to get into or avoid contact with the enemy, manoeuvring your little mans into the best position from which to strike with bow or blade.
So it's just like Chess except I have to paint my pawns?
Well, in the sense that you are simulating a battle using small plastic figures, yes. However the similarity ends there; WotR, like most tabletop wargames, allows for much more free-form movement than the squares-based system of Chess. Formations can move in nearly any direction from the outset for instance. Also unlike Chess, combat in The War of the Ring is not pre-determined - there is a strong random element, mediated by dice rolls, that makes the outcome of any individual clash of formations uncertain.
Wait, it's all random? What's the point then?
Not at all; whilst dice are used to allow for the possibility of odd occurrences, most of the game revolves around combining the various bonuses and penalties that can be accrued from terrain, charging, magical effects and psychology in order to stack the odds in your favour. The point is to have fun matching wits against your opponent who is mostly trying to do exactly the same thing to you....
Forces and Factions:
Choose your side
There are several factions that you can choose your army from, and some of them can also ally with each other (see Good and evil below). The factions are:
Men of Gondor - stalwart defenders of Middle Earth
The greatest realm of Man in the Third Age, Gondor stands as a mighty bulwark between the evil of Mordor and the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth. Peace for other lands is bought only through the unceasing vigiliance of Gondor, its mightiest city Minas Tirith and its Captains, Knights and Warriors, but its inhabitants pay a heavy price for the freedom of others - as the ruins of Osgiliath are testament to.
Elves - the Elite's Elite, the glory of the Elves evokes terror in all who oppose them
Immortal, unchanging, the Elves are the firstborn, the eldest race in all Middle-Earth, but in the time of the Third Age they are dwindling and slowly passing into the West from whence they came. The haven of Rivendell and the woodland realm of Lothlórien are two of the last bastions of the Elves, but such is the power of their people that even in their last days does Sauron fear them.
Dwarves - the unbreakable wall, extremely well armoured and courageous in all things
Like the Elves, the Dwarves are a dwindling race now that Men have risen to prominence, but in all other respects they have little in common. Short and squat where Elves are tall and fair, the Dwarves live in underground kingdoms carved from the rock of mountains and love mineral wealth above all else.
Riders of Rohan - Raiders and horsemen par excellence
Rohan is the kingdom of the Rohirrim, a warlike people descended from Eorl the Young who was gifted the Riddermark in return for the great service he provided to Gondor in time of peril. Indeed, Rohan is still Gondor's most important ally, for few enemies can withstand a cavalry charge of the Rohirrim.
The Forgotten Realms - everything else, from Hobbits to Ents to Wizards and Eagles.
From Arnor and the Shire, far to the North and West of Gondor come the Dunedain Rangers, scions of the line of Gondorian kings, together with the halflings whose lands they protected. Even as Isengard rose against Gondor, the hidden might of Fangorn was roused by those same halflings to come to the aid of Men.
Mordor - Sauron's own legions, cruel and powerful
The dwelling place of Sauron himself, in the tower of Barad-Dûr, Mordor is an evil, dark land infested by the Orcs and Trolls that make up the bulk of his armies. The Witch-King leads them from the terrifying city of Minas Morgul, once a bastion of Gondor over which it looks, and upon the Plains of Gorgoroth within a ring of three mighty mountain ranges lies Mount Doom itself, where Sauron forged his Rings of Power - and the One Ring to rule them all.
Misty Mountains - the Goblins of Moria and their associated monsters
The mighty underground Kingdom of Moria, founded by the Dwarf King Durin, was a haven of the Dwarves for thousands of years until their mining delved too far and awoke the Balrog that drove them from their realm. Now infested with Goblins and Trolls, Moria is an evil place that travellers of sane mind avoid.
Isengard - the traitor Saruman's dark host of mighty Uruk-hai
Originally a Citadel guarding the western approaches to Gondor, in Saruman's time Isengard and the Tower of Orthanc became an evil place, harbouring his armies of Uruk-Hai and Warg Riders until it was pulled down by the Ents of nearby Fangorn.
The Fallen Kingdoms - the tainted Men of the East and their mighty war-beasts
The far-flung lands of Rhûn and Khand, far to the east of Middle-Earth, are the home of the Easterlings and the Variags, races of Men who fight willingly for Sauron. The great land of Harad lies far to the south of Gondor and is inhabitated by many tribes of the Haradrim who constantly war with one another. A land of deserts and great plains, the Haradrim are a hardy folk who now fight for Sauron.
Good and Evil
In the LotR books, there is a pretty clear dividing line between "the good guys" and "the bad guys" which is carried over into the game. There are therefore two sets of factions divided between the alignments ("Good" and "Evil") who can ally with other factions of the same alignment but not with the other side. Not that this means a Good force can't fight another Good force (or Evil fight Evil) - after all some of Sauron's most cunning ploys pitted friend against friend, and Orcs need no excuse to fight each other.
When choosing your forces, you can choose any one good or evil faction (except the Forgotten Kingdoms) then select your formations from that army list. You can then also include up to one quarter of your list as allied forces from the other lists that share your alignment.
Finding out more:
Informative websites
Games Workshop's own introduction to WotR
Quickstart Rules (print in booklet form, if your printer does it, for best effect).
A basic Scenario w/forces.
OK guys this is where I need your help: anyone who knows better, please write a more descriptive piece for the factions and/or add a picture. Equally, links to suitable forums and stuff would be appreciated.
...because dragons are AWESOME! That's why.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Mr_Rose on
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So stoked about gaining new information from this thread though :P
I MIGHT be starting a Gondor Force.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Hero's aren't out right combat monsters, they are there to increase the effectiveness of your formation / company.
I also like how shooting works, you get 8 shots for your initial company and then add in more shots for the added companys and then you get a bonus # of shots depending on how good these archers are. I have also heard shooting at a unit and inflicting wounds makes units either stay where they are or fall back.
lots of more rules i dont know , and really shouldn't think about. I already own 2 warhammer armies. I dont need another wallet raping hobby.
Pikes: The Best.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Also, fuck Dwarves. Those guys are vicious slaughter and death in tiny packages.
No the basic rules are not the same. The fighting, movement and magic works differently, though some of the heroic actions are similar. And they added a charge phase.
And yes, fuck Dwarves.
Edit: you need to add Angmar to the list of bad guys.
OK, I know very little about how the SBG works so I'll just say what's up with WotR and you can tell me what's different, yes?
The stats are:
Race; Type; M(ovement); F(ight); S(trength); D(efence); A(ttacks) R(esilience); C(ourage); and M(igh)t
For a Gondorian Warrior company on foot those are:
Man; Infantry; 6; 3/4+; 3; 5(7); 8; 1; 3; -
For a Warg Rider:
Orc; Cavalry; 10; 3/5+; 4; 4; 2; 2; 2; -
Race determines whether you are affected by some abilities (like Orcbane, which only affects Orcs).
Type determines a lot of things, such as your charge range and bonus (infantry get +1 attack per company, Cavalry get +6 and obviously charge further).
Fight value is split into close combat and shooting; for close combat, companies with a higher F get bonus attacks equal to the difference and for shooting, companies get bonus attacks equal to the 5 - [shoot value], so the men of Gondor there get +1 attack when shooting.
Strength is compared to Defence to determine whether you hit, in all cases (even when shooting); there's no separate "to hit" roll.
Defence determines how hard it is to hit your mans; in the case of a shielded company, they only get the bonus to defence (in brackets above) in their front arc.
The Attacks value determines how many base dice you get in combat and shooting per company; these are reduced by one per casualty inflicted on the company.
Resilience tells you how many hits a company can take before it suffers a casualty; if there are any odd hits left over (for units with an R better than 1, like cavalry) they are discarded.
Courage is added to the roll of 2D6 to determine whether you get to do certain things, like charge elves or move at the double.
Finally, Might lets you perform heroic actions like charging first or duelling an enemy character.
The phases of the turn are Priority, Move, Shoot, Charge, and Fight. Both sides move during the move phase, charge during the charge phase and so on, with the winner of the Priority roll going first in each phase except fight. In the Fight phase, the order of striking is determined by the Type of the model, so Monsters hit before Cavalry and both strike before Infantry.
A formation with a shooting attack can only fire on targets at least one of its companies can see:
Any company with LoS and range to the target gets its full number of attacks, any that are out of sight add one attack to the formation's shooting.
Charging is weird; you pick one company in a formation which is then the "spearhead." The Spearhead company rolls a D6 and adds a number determined by it's Type; this is the charge move. Then, IIRC, you get to move the remaining companies up to their normal move to get into combat. In addition if your D6 roll is a 1, the charge fails and you don't move. If the roll is a 6, you get an "unstoppable charge" which triggers certain effects, not the least of which is gaining D3 attacks per company in the fight phase.
Fight is where you do most of your killing: Each company in base contact rolls its A value in dice, plus any bonuses for superior Fight, Charging etc., determined on a per-company basis, so a Company with a hero in it will have a higher Fight value that the rest of its formation so it could get extra dice the rest don't. Once everyone has attacked, all formations move apart 1" and the formations on the side that took the most casualties has to roll on the panic table. bad rolls here could leave you Disordered (unable to move and reduced to 1 attack per company) or even destroy the formation.
the "to Hit" chart is the same for shooting and close combat:
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Why the fuck do you think I'm starting a Gondor army. Also Sean Bean! olol.
Hmm. This looks pretty interesting. Similar, yet different. I might drop by my local Games Workshop and pick it up, I'd enjoy having a new use for the hordes of goblins in my display case.
@Mr. Rose: You might want to throw up links to the GW quickstart and sample scenario pdfs for people to see how the game works. Here they be.
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m2110074_WOTR_quickstart.pdf
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m2110076_WOTR_scenario.pdf
Of course, the fact that LotR is my first love doesn't help matters. Must've read the books a thousand times and marathoned the extended versions at least twice. Good times.
I may have to try and talk my friend into giving this a shot.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
Hey, I just saw that they have Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth, too! Badass! The lack of Thranduil is depressing, though.
Edit: Ok, so if I understand what I'm reading correctly, I could build an army that's basically Dol Amroth plus Elladan and Elrohir? In essence, I could take all of the barely-mentioned bit characters from the book with whom I have an unhealthy obsession, put them on the table, and make them fight Orcs together?
If so then fuck yes.
Goddammit, you guys, I'm in public; stop making a mess of my pants.
Ahaha, I looked up his figure on GW and his special rules and powers are incredible.
Tom Bombadil
Magical Powers: Hey! Come merry dol!
Special Rules: Tom is Master; Tom's country ends here: he will not pass the borders
And, of course, his lady:
Magical Powers: Refreshing Song
Special Rules: River-Daughter; Tom has his house to mind, and Goldberry is waiting
I think I must've grown up at some point. There was a time when this all would have pissed me off for not being absolutely, 100% faithful to the books; now it just makes me all giddy because YAY LOTR.
Or you might want some cavalry; regular Knights of Gondor are pretty good, but you might prefer Rohirrim (though they'd be allies).
As I have the Knights already, I might pick up a couple of boxes of foot troops soon. Then I can see about getting those Avenger bolt throwers in...
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
You'll need some leaders. If you get the Minas Tirith Command blister then you get a banner and a captain, which is really great. Knights of Minas Tirith are seriously good cavalry, you won't regret buying a box.
Definitely get another box of Warriors, just 16 close combat and 8 archers won't be enough.
If you want an elite squadron, check out Citadel Guard Longbowmen for an archer company(Strength 3 bows! Almost as good as elves!,) or Guards of the Fountain Court for a close-combat squad to stand fast with your hero.
EDIT: It's been a long time since I played the SBG, but damn if it's not all coming back. Great game.
Nintendo Network ID: AzraelRose
DropBox invite link - get 500MB extra free.
I wonder if Elf Bows will just count as longbows, or will they keep them at Strength 3?
sooo need to spend 90 dollars on my revamp for my SM 40k army
There's no difference between bows.
I recently got all my minis out and organized them into groups of 8 to see what sort of companies i would be able to make, and my roommate who i play with picked up a few packs of the movement trays to see how they work. Our normal games were around 3000-3500 point armies and as fun as it was it really took awhile to get turns done, so hopefully the new scale of the game will let us play games in a much smaller timeframe. Its also got me looking forward to get to all my unpainted minis (and a half painted mumakil)
Uhm... you realize that the old LotR game was supposed to be played between 500 and 750 points in a typical game? No wonder it took forever to complete a turn :P. That being said, I played a 1k point game with my Mordor using about 86 minis and it took us about an hour and a half to complete the game, though that was because we spent a long time looking at the spell lists and other rules.
Jesus you already have 1k of Mordor?
Tomorrow you need to help me build a 1k Gondor force so I know what I need to buy.
a pretty bad photo of one of our last big games