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How To Get Started in the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game

Getting started in the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game can be daunting. But this is not because the game is extremely difficult–the truth is that the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game is one of the best written wargames that Games Workshop makes. It’s because the game is 20 years old and throughout the years the game has expanded massively–there are 43 different factions as of 2022, and tons of books to buy. Which leads to the first question: gnm,

Which Books Do I Need For the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game?

There are two essential books to buy for playing the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game–but which two is up to you. First, you absolutely need the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual, but then you can choose to either get the Armies of Lord of the Rings, or Armies of the Hobbit. Whichever one you choose will depend on which stories you like and which battles you wish to recreate.

The Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual contains several sections, including the introduction (which talks about collecting and painting and the hobby side of things), the rules (basic principles, turn sequence, etc.), different types of games (narrative play, open play, matched play), and example armies (Minas Tirith, Isengard, Defenders of Erebor, and Azog’s Hunters). (Buy from Amazon | Buy from Element Games)

The two army books, Armies of Lord of the Rings and Armies of The Hobbit, contain all of the army lists with the stats specific to those stories.

Armies of Lord of the Rings contains the information for 16 army lists for the Forces of Good: The Fellowship, The Shire, The Rangers, Numenor, Minas Tirith, The Fiefdoms, The Dead of Dunharrow, Arnor, Rohan, Wildmen of Druaden, Rivendell, Lothlorien, Fangorn, The Misty Mountains, The Kingdom of Khazad-dum, and the Wanderers of the wild. It also contains 11 army lists for the Forces of Evil: Barad-dur, Angmar, Mordor, Moria, Isengard, The Easterlings, Variags of Khand, The Serpent Horde, Far Harad, Corsairs of Umbar, and Sharkey’s Rogues. The book contains an Allies Matrix, which explains which factions can work with which, and has 269 profiles of heroes, villains and monsters. And there are 11 Narrative Play scenarios so you can do anything from the March of the Ents to the Battle of Pelennor Fields to the Ambush at Amon Hen. (Buy from Amazon | Buy from Element Games)

Armies of the Hobbit contains the information for 13 army lists for the Forces of Good: Thorin’s Company, Army of Thror, The Iron Hills, Erebor Reclaimed, Army of Lake Town, Survivors of Lake Town, Garrison of Dale, Rivendell, Halls of Thranduill, Radagast’s Alliance, The Misty Mountains, The White Council, and Wanderers in the Wild. And it has 7 army lists for the Forces of Evil, including Azog’s Legion, Azog’s Hunters, Dark Powers of Dol Guldur, Dark Denizens of Mirkwood, Goblin-town, The Trolls, and Desolator from the north. This book also has a profiles for all the heroes, villains and monsters, and has narrative scenarios for things like the Fall of the Necromancer, Escape from Goblin-town, and Battle of Five Armies. (Buy from Amazon | Buy from Element Games)

What Are the Other Books for Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game?

The other books available (or at least the ones that are still in print) are Gondor at War, Scouring of the Shire, and War in Rohan, and these books are essentially expansions that cover things not mentioned in the larger army books–additional armies and profiles and narrative scenarios.

These books also include the mechanics of Legendary Legions, which give you special rules when using specific units together. These are interesting because they not only give you special abilities, but they also give you restrictions. If you want to play as the Legendary Legion of The Riders of Theoden, you need to have Theoden and Eomer and Eowyn and others, and they all must be on horseback, but you can’t take any units that were not part of the Riders of Theoden–no Gandalf or Aragorn or Frodo.

What’s the Best Way to Get Started with the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game?

The best way to get started with the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game  is (perhaps surprisingly, given Games Workshop’s track record) the starter set, The Battle of Pelennor Fields. The reason I say that it’s surprising is that many of the Games Workshop Start Collecting boxes only give you enough forces to begin building an army–not nearly enough to play a full game. But the Battle of Pelennor Fields gives you plenty to have a whole battle. The Forces of Evil contains 36 Orcs, the Witch King, and a Mordor Troll. And the Forces of Good give you 12 Warriors of Rohan, 12 Riders of Rohan, and 20 Warriors of the dead. Plus you get the full rule book (and dice and tokens and other necessities). (Buy from Amazon | Buy from Element Games)

But if that isn’t to your liking, probably the best way to get started with the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game is by picking your favorite force and beginning from there. While some people may get into wargaming because they love the strategy and tactics–and that is absolutely here–most people get into Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game because they love Middle Earth. There is something in one of the stories that draws them in, whether their love grew from reading the books or watching the movies, they likely have a favorite character who they’d love to play with. They want to charge with the Rohirrim as Eowyn and Merry, or the want to battle the Necromancer as the White Council, or they want to lead the Dead of Dunharrow as Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli.

Generally speaking, in Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game, you want to use approximately 1 leader/hero for every 12 troops, so you might want to expand on the Battle of Pelennor Fields by taking the Mordor Commanders Pack, which comes with 4 orc heroes. Or for the Good side you can take Eomer or Gamling.

What is the Easiest Middle Earth Army To Start With?

While you might think that taking something as foundational as The Fellowship would be the best place to start, the easiest for brand-new players who are starting the game is not an army full of heroes. With The Fellowship, every single one of the nine members has their own special rules. An army where more models all have the same stats is much easier, and probably the easiest is the Dead of Dunharrow. They’re ghosts, which gives them a very high defense, making them a very hardy army that can withstand a lot of mistakes–you can mess up more often without dire consequences. And it’s a Legendary Legion if you take them with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, so you still get to play with heroes you love.

Where Can You Find Models for Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game?

This is a tricky one. Games Workshop likes to always be releasing new models, and they don’t keep a lot of the old models in production. So some of the models that are currently big–like Rohan–might not have been available ten years ago, and other armies–like Numenor and Arnor–are impossible to find these days.

eBay is your best friend, and if eBay doesn’t work, then turn to Facebook groups. Often in these Facebook groups you can say what armies you’re collecting and, if you can’t find anyone selling them, they can at least give you leads. And generally these groups are very good about making sure that you don’t get ripped off or make too bad of purchasing decision. (While one individual might lead you astray, a whole community can give you advice that is more broadly applicable.)

Want to learn more about the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game? Check out this article I wrote about the 20th Anniversary of Fellowship of the Ring.