Hi there, been into GW gaming for years but never really looked at LOTR's. Picked up some minis the other day and I'm hooked. Question is, l know that specialist games are taking over the game soon, so is it worth buying the rulebook yet or will it become obsolete? Shall I just paint up some minis and wait?

Thanks in advance.

At the moment there are no known plans for a new rule book. There is a new book in progress at the moment which is a source book covering the second two Hobbit films, but the current Hobbit rulebook will still be needed for the core rules. If a new rule book did come out I don't think we’ll see it for at least a year, probably longer.

If you want the scenarios from A Unexpected Journey it is certainly worth getting the hard back. Otherwise you can probably pick the small rule book for a good price or even buy the Escape from Goblintown boxed set which is great value.

What if I am not interested in The Hobbit and mainly want to play with LotR? Would The One Rulebook to Rule them All suffice?

Agreed. Buy yourself a complete escape from goblin town set. It will come with a rulebook, minis, and terrain.

I'm almost certain they promised a new rulebook in a few months. either get escape from goblin town or the rulebook that comes with it on cheap on eBay. It's about €60 for the rulebook and €100 for goblin town. You'll get a pile of terrain and models for basically the price of two infantry boxes extra.

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Let's fight in phalanx formation with more swordsmen and archers then pikes!
-Easterlings

As far as I understand, the upcoming rule book is a book dedicated to completing the Hobbit SBG and is not the new edition entitled Middle Earth SBG.

It was confirmed at Warhammer Fest that the book the Middle-earth team are working on and is due out hopefully before the end of the year is a sourcebook and NOT a new rule book. It covers scenarios, army lists and profiles from The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle Of The Five Armies.

I feel like a new big rule book is potentially coming, but not for a long while. The way they described the "shield wall" style rules they had in mind for the iron hill dwarves loosely implies the style of formation rule bonuses could be the sort of mechanic we might see in a future edition, sort of like how the Hobbit gave us specific weapon rules and brutal power attacks.

But even then I wouldn't expect this for a long time. It would probably be more practical for them to focus first on re-releases and finishing the battle of 5 armies first to rebuild the community a bit before going straight into a new edition. Less risk that way, selling established miniatures with a working, familiar rule set while they try out new ideas with the BOFA stuff

What if I am not interested in The Hobbit and mainly want to play with LotR? Would The One Rulebook to Rule them All suffice?

The rules are updated in The Hobbit An Unexpected Journry rules manual. If you only want to play on your own then you could still with the One Ring book. If you wanted to play in tournaments though or against other people you'd need the Hobbit book for the latest version of the rules.