War of the Rohirrim

[armchairgeneral]

I was looking at the War of the Rohirrim set in my local Warhammer shop in Chester this morning. The figures and buildings looked impressive from an initial once over.

Any one got the set or seen the film?

https://www.warhammer.com/en-GB/shop/war-of-the-rohirrim-battle-of-edoras-eng-2024?queryID=8c861ddf13f6299654121d7442141ca3

[anevilgiraffe]

wait, so that's been rebranded as Warhammer now and not Middle Earth Strategy Game?

[Dubbya]

wait, so that's been rebranded as Warhammer now and not Middle Earth Strategy Game?

Nope, it hasn't.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I have seen the film and have bought the War Of Rohirrim Starter set.

The film is an Japanese anime style story set in Rohan 180 years before LOTR.
It is the story of Helm Hammerhand and his three children fighting hill tribes with allies.
I enjoyed it but there are several things which Tolkien purists will criticize.

The War of Rohirrim boxed set is the new starter set for LOTR, not Warhammer. It contains two small armies, rules and scenery.

Note that the box clearly says:-
  The Lord of the Rings.
  The War of the Rohirrim.
  Battle of Edoras.

They are not using Middle Earth Strategy Game in the new marketing.

I have not opened the parcel yet (tomorrow is Xmas) but from YouTube reviews the set looks awesome.
There are 24 newly tooled Rohan infantry, 24 new tooled Hillmen, two evil heroes foot & mounted, two good heroes foot & mounted and two Rohan houses.
Plus there is the new LOTR rulebook, scenario book, a playmat, dice and ruler.

I will update more tomorrow.   

[armchairgeneral]

wait, so that's been rebranded as Warhammer now and not Middle Earth Strategy Game?

Apologies for the confusion. I used the term Warhammer as I understand it to be the new name for Games Workshop. I have removed it from my original post now.

[Elbows]

I checked out the box set at the local store.  It's nicely detailed, but woof...it is 100% modern GW.  A crap ton of pieces.  It is as far from a 'beginner friendly' starter as you could get.

Nothing a seasoned modeler couldn't do (though I'm rapidly approaching the point of 'can't be bothered' with 8-10 piece infantry models myself), but it was very surprising to me to see how tiny/delicate/numerous the pieces were for what is ideally a starter box to get someone into the game.

The building kit is still the highlight of the box.

[JollyBob]

Houses look nice.

Figures don't do it for me at all, I'm afraid, too much in the blocky render style a lot of modern GW stuff suffers from. Painting sharp highlights on cloth doesn't help, either.
Maybe that makes them in the style if the film, but I haven't seen it so don't know.

The printed materials look the high production standard I'd expect from GW. I wonder how the rules are different from the MESBG, as that was widely regarded as a solid set.

Don't think I'm the target audience for this, really.

[Codsticker]

The new Dunlendings look great - the faces are amazing - but I probably won't be getting the game. My Pelennor Fields box set has had the plastic wrap off and the innards looked at and that is it. 

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I wondered about it, but £140 is a lot of Oathmark!

[Elbows]

It's a lot of Victrix...a lot of Gripping Beast...a lot of Frostgrave...a lot of Fireforge...a lot of Wargames Atlantic...it's a lot of things

What I don't get - and maybe someone can enlighten me...is that I thought they had just relaunched the whole MESBG thing a year or two ago.  Is this a new version of the game or just a starter set linked to the anime?

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

I think this is a soft relaunch to coincide with the new film.

[HerbertTarkel]

Movie is coming to Prime on 27 December, apparently. Free to Amazon. So looking forward to watching it, at home!

I’ve heard the kit is not at all like the earlier MESBG ones with the level of complexity in the minis. Not necessarily bad, just … different.

[Lost Egg]

I have heard the MESBG licence runs out in 2025 so I've been wondering if this wave of minis hasn't been to both tie in with the film and to show that GW / WH are still engaging with the licence. Apart from a few extra characters and a snow troll I don't think they've shown anything else off.

Presumably if the licence is renewed they have some more stuff in the wings. I'd like to see some new Rivendell Elves to replace or add to those from the Last Alliance box. I don't play the game but have been flicking through the rules a bit recently.

I'd be interested to hear what the new minis kits are like, have watched some vids and some say they are fiddly and others say they are great so am not sure.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

At lunchtime on Christmas day, I unpacked the parcel and lifted out the box. It was bigger and heavier than I had expected.

I lifted the lid which is a very close fit, like opening an airlock. Inside was full to the brim with sprues – two hero sprues, four warrior sprues and four scenery sprues and a ruler. Beneath the sprues was a large full colour picture like the box cover. Beneath that were two black envelopes, one with the scenario guide and build instructions, the other a fold out playmat. Underneath that is a full-size hardcover rules book. Everything oozes quality.

This afternoon, I built a sprue of Rohan warriors. This took a long time. Much longer than any other plastic 28mm infantry set.

Most figures have 7 or 8 parts. Helmets and faces are separate pieces. Arms attach at the elbow and the right arms are holding weapons. Left arms either hold a bow or a shield handle. Each figure is its own unique construction of body and legs. Only the shields are interchangeable. Everything else is unique to the figure.

To assemble, you must carefully check the instructions and cut the required parts by number. Only cut one figure at a time and collect the parts in a small tray. Do not assemble these in a carpeted room. The faces and helmets are tiny.

I wore reading glasses and used a LED round light with magnifier. Check every piece carefully and make sure you remove all sprue studs as many of them are on the mating part of the components. I used Tamiya sharp nosed plastic cutters and a swan Morten scalpel. Glue the parts together with liquid plastic glue. I used Revell Contacta applied with a brush.

The finished figures are stunning.

[Lost Egg]

Many thanks for your review and advice Mick, the built minis do look very nice. I assume the Hill Men are a similar style to the Rohan in terms of complexity / number of parts etc?