Hey all! Nice to meet you.

I'm a brand new LotR:SBG player, though I've been a wargamer for about nine years. For the longest time, I shied away from LotR:SBG. I'm not a huge snob about the movies - I actually liked the whole LotR trilogy, though I couldn't bring myself to enjoy the Hobbit franchise - but I think it bothered me that it was a wargame. I thought it kind of missed the point Tolkien was trying to make.

Ok, so maybe I am a little bit of a snob .

Anyway, last year, my father passed away. Our love of Tolkien's work was one of the throughlines of our relationship and had been since I was a little kid. I found myself obsessing about LotR:SBG, and I finally figured out why. My father always had to suppress his nerdy side because of my mother's antipathy for it. However, I think that in another world, where I hadn't moved across an entire continent to get away from my family and my father had really been able to be himself, LotR:SBG is something we would have enjoyed together.

Anyway, when I mentioned all this to my wife, she - to my surprise - encouraged me to start a collection. That was something I wasn't about to pass up. She's pretty tolerant, but she's never encouraged me to start a new game.

Anyway, here I am. I've got a couple of boxes of Galadhrim and some Mirkwood elves (who I'll be using as wood elves, but I like the Mirkwood sculpts better) on the way to my local GW. I'm looking forward to getting some models painted and playing some games.

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I blog at Tiny Plastic Dead. Only the tiny plastic dead have seen the end of tiny plastic war.

Certainly an interesting reason for getting into the game, and a respectable one at that, Master Hobbit. I didn't catch the wargaming bug immediately when the movies came out either. I actually fell asleep in "Fellowship", so the draw was completely lost on me. I was an RPG gamer looking for henchmen when I saw the plastic Haradrim, fell in love with the set and bought them. The Rohirrim were next, and when I saw their battle with the warg riders on film, I was in love. Being a horsewoman myself, I could identify with that army and I actually like painting horseflesh.

For many gamers, myself included, the draw isn't getting an army together to beat the stuffing out of the other side. The narrative element is a big draw, and the new scenario books "Scouring of the Shire [II]" and "Gondor at War" show that this element is still very much a beloved part of the MESBG. I often envision thematic moments like a movie when my forces clash.

Nice to meet you and welcome!

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

I can confirm that if your wife encourages you to start doing something you like, it's good news: you'll do that thing you like anyways, but you won't get in trouble because of it plus, it can give pointers when your birthday comes. My wife has always been supportive of my miniature wargame addiction (be it about LOTR or other, more realistic, settings) and it's always great to have her come over and be genuinely interested in what I'm doing and being happy I'm having fun.

That's how you recognise a keeper!

[/quote]That's how you recognise a keeper![/quote]
I'm confused. Are we keeping the spouse or the game? Welcome to you, too!

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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'nice doggie' until you can find a rock." -Will Rogers

I don't know about you, but I'm keeping both!

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I blog at Tiny Plastic Dead. Only the tiny plastic dead have seen the end of tiny plastic war.

Welcome! A lot of traffic is on FB these days, as you may have guessed.
Elves are a nice place to start.

Thanks for sharing your story, that is interesting. Try to finish your elf army off before moving onto whatever else catches your eye. I hope your wife has the same attitude going forwards!

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My trade thread
http://www.one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=25957&p=325932#p325932

The best of reasons!
I myself can't imagine my life without the discovery of Tolkien's work and building a relation with my future children around it is my utter goal
Well, at some point, the SBG (and the hobby associated with it) teleports me right to Middle-Earth, and I feel like I'm able to be part of the world. I completely understand and agree with the "missing Tolkien's point" argument, but in the end we're just peaceful people who want to be a part of the whole thing he created. It is another form of escapism if you want

Anyway, welcome to the community!!!! It's always good to have some actual Tolkien fans around

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Aulë Dwarf Father

My Blog: http://www.middleearthminis.com

Congrats... Welcome to the game, the hobby and the excitement of collecting all in one. What part of the world do you live in? Always looking for new players.