War of the Ring and Lord of the Rings

[P_Clapham]

Especially for folks who haven't heard of it like myself.  I'll be checking this out now. 

For a bit I was toying with the Fantasy Goalsystem, looking to create a rules set similar to War of the Ring or Lord of the Rings.  Pretty much all of the figures would use the Henchmen Rules except for one or two figures per Squad.

You do... 

But a good ruleset is always worth mentioning 

[Doomsdave]

The immensity of WOTR has put me off getting into it. I also am not a fan of all the spell-slinging in a ME setting.  However I always like the SBG because I was able to knock together several basic armies. I keep these on hand for folks who don't have their own.  I can put a game together in very little time and that helps for friends who haven't played it before or getting people to try the game. Also allows for more off-the cuff gaming when my friends are available.  Everyone has kids and jobs etc.  and it make it easier for us to play when we can't be bothered with organizing a big game. 

[Uncle Mike]

I have to admit War Of The Ring is my one G.W. game...haven't played yet (due to the immensity  ) but I'm almost ready to field my army. the rules seem fun and faster than say, Warhamster and actually remind me a bit of Warmaster. Looks like a good big battles game. Hope to be playing by the end of summer and I'll have more to say about it then.

Added Bonus For Married Nerds: Although it will burn your wallet to a crisp you can make a great army of hobbits and treemen a giant eagles for the missus.

[Momotaro]

I like the SBG, but I think that the opposed dg combat roll is a little bit too random. Difference in fight values only matter when you roll a tie, so an F7 character does not have a better chance of beating an F2 Goblin, than an F3 average warrior...

Since SBG is one of my favourite games, I hope you don't mind me pointing out why I don't have a problem with this.

You're right - when two normal warriors face off, the one with the higher Fight values has a 60% (-ish) chance of winning, the one with the lower value has a 40% chance.  That allows your weedy but undaunted hobbit to roll to wound an hideous, brawny uruk about 2/5 of the time.  Or learn to start ganging up on him.  Conversely, to hold off the faceless hordes, an elf just needs to keep rolling those sixes...

In fact, I kind of like the simplicity of the basic mechanic.  That's just between mooks though - the SBG is a game of heroes.  Heroes have a higher strength, extra attack dice, Might points to modify the roll, and special abilities.  I could be wrong, but I don't think there's a single F7 fighter in the game who has no other bonuses, and most F6 fighters are heroic characters too.  Most decent "combat" heroes are veritable killing machines against ordinary troops.

I do think that combat is weighted towards numbers perhaps a little too much, but the balance between spending points on high-quality heroes or hordes of troops is one of the core tactical choices in the game.  Another important tactic is the use of "combat multipliers" - ganging up, banners, spears and pikes - to shift the odds in your favour more regularly.