I picked up the 2005 LotR rulebook cheap on ebay recently and I'd like to get into the game.

I know there are several rules published since 2005, stuff like weapon qualities (I've seen model entries mention Piercing and Bash) and the warband rules.

Do I need to get a newer rulebook or is there an errata PDF or similar that can provide the rules I'm missing?

I read the explanation of the Warband rules on this forum and if I understand them correctly a warband is 1 hero and up to 12 other models. The 33% bow limit is per warband, not army wide. A warband is deployed together, but from deployment they can move about as they choose.

One thing I'm not clear on though is if I can use warbands from different lists in the same army?
Specificially I'm considering combining Durins folk with Erebor dwarfs, mainly to get access to some spears.

On the subjet of Durins folk, is it correct that I need the Free Peoples book to get the rules for most of their models on GWs site?
The rule book I've got now only includes some of the heroes, warriors and Khazâd Guard.

The hobbit an unexpected journey is the main rule book now
free peoples rule book has durins folk army in it,
the rulebooks you see on gw site replace any of the old ones for both profiles and rules, THE ERRATAS you can get from gw website or forgeworld webpage for free download

warbands are deployed individually and the troops of a warband are deployed within 6" of the leader

the bow limit is per faction not just warband, example if you had an army of rohan and gondor together you check the limit on each faction seperatley- there are exceptions to the bow limit with certain armies allowing them to have more

you can use different factions like your erebor and durins folkk, however they have be lead from a hero from their respective list - so a captain from durins folk list can only lead the warriors from the same list and vice versa - so no dwarves leading ents and men basically-

there have been other changes to rules regarding supporting, shooting , monsters, a bit of a change on magic(spells can be channelled to make them stronger) thats all i can think of, off the top of my head for now

Ling and short you will be doing yourself a favour picking up as many of the books as you can

Hobbit unexpected journey - mAIN RULES
Hobbti there and back again - additional rules/profiles

************************************************************Check erratas as you go for whatever army you are building, and check out the irish hobbit league facebook page and the british hobbit league page - its a nice community and they will help you however they can
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the following have all the lotr profiles and army list

Moria and angmar- what it says

free peoples -
rivendell(more of this list in hobbit books, durins folk, lothlorien&mirkwood(new mirkwood list called thranduils hall in hobbit book is worth a look -the shire list -wanderers in the wild list - white council list but i think its outdated now

fallen realms
Isengard - Harad and Umber - Eastern Kingdoms

kingdoms of men
Gondor - Arnor - Numenor -Rohan -fiefdoms

mordor
This list is massive so it gets its own book

It's worth noting that a new rulebook is expected to arrive this summer. Therefore I wouldn't recommend spending full price on the current Hobbit rulebook unless you are in a hurry or want the scenarios.

If you want the current ruleset now, you could buy The Hobbit: Escape from Goblin Town Set, as it comes with the current ruleset in a smaller sized softcover book. You may also find this book for relatively cheap in second hand markets. It may not look as nice as the much more expensive hardcover version, but it's complete in terms of rules.

You could pick up the different sourcebooks (Free Peoples contains profiles for Dwarves, There And Back Again provides profiles for the newest dwarves released in The Hobbit), however again if you're not in a rush I'd recommend waiting before buying all sourcebooks. The LotR range is expected to get a profile overhaul, so it's possible the older sourcebooks will be superseded by newer ones.

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