Thoughts on the Battle of Five Armies

[Shining_Spear]

The Battle of Five Armies seems very well done to me: nice terrain, quality minis,
as well as most of it's other aspects.

There is one thing bugging me about the game though. Does it have potential for replayability? What scenarios does it include aside from the Bo5A scenario? There is only so much you can do with one battle.

Thanks,
S.S.

[philbrad2]

LoTR Warmaster! Whoop de do Basil! Another way GW are trying to keep the LoTR 'cash cow' afloat IMHO. Nice to see its now in the realms of SG... hopefully its big bro will follow

Sorry to be so negative but this seems like another blantant "you've seen the film - no play the game' genre of release. No I haven't played it might be a spiffing game but it fails to 'light my fire' shall we say.

[t-tauri]

I found Warmaster to be a scale too far. I've already got a significant investment in 25/28mm and 15mm ancients. Inquisitor (at 54mm scale), LotR (at small 25mm) and Warmaster (10mm) never got far simply because I wasn't going to reproduce the same stuff and armies in yet another scale. If Warmaster had been 15mm I'd have been all over it like a rash. At 10mm, no thanks. Same for Bo5A.

[Crazy Harborc]

So far, no regular opponent has mentioned wanting to try, much less buy, the darn game.

IMHO, once you and opponents have played a game and really are into it, why not write up some sceneros? When you own it, you can change it for your own use and NOT to sell etc. IP or no IP, GW doesn't control what you do with their product in private, away from "official locations", for personal use and no financial gains.

[Lord Lucifer]

Hopefully they do away with that abominable 40K so they can devote enough space in White Dwarf to Battle of Five Armies.

Still waiting on my copy to ship, paid for back in february


The fact that the box has ALL you need to play a game is a plus, all you need to do is find someone to dedicate a couple of hours to playing it.
Luckily for me, none of the members of my Games Club are pretentious, self-righteous "LotR are teh suck!" type who feel that because they don't enjoy the game, no-one else is allowed to either.

[Darkblade]

Hopefully they do away with that abominable 40K so they can devote enough space in White Dwarf to Battle of Five Armies.

Still waiting on my copy to ship, paid for back in february


The fact that the box has ALL you need to play a game is a plus, all you need to do is find someone to dedicate a couple of hours to playing it.
Luckily for me, none of the members of my Games Club are pretentious, self-righteous "LotR are teh suck!" type who feel that because they don't enjoy the game, no-one else is allowed to either.

I think i'll ignore this and not get into an argument. Isn't LOTR for kids? (damn is, you just couldn't keep it to yourself could you!)

[Karhedron]

LoTR Warmaster! Whoop de do Basil! Another way GW are trying to keep the LoTR 'cash cow' afloat IMHO.

Actually it was in the terms of their license with New Line that they produce one other game based on Tolkein's world but not based on the films. Bo5A simply fulfils the terms of the contract and they are not interested in it in the long term. That is why they are only doing one production run and no expansions.

[jazzdude78]

I have a question for all you out there in internet land

How big is the terrain in comparison to normal sized GW figs?
any pics to show me?
Id consider gettin it ebay or something cheap if the terrain is workable

[Lord Lucifer]

I think i'll ignore this and not get into an argument. Isn't LOTR for kids? (damn is, you just couldn't keep it to yourself could you!)

Firstly, I was being tongue-in-cheek to rile up the 40K players. No-one forces you to play LotR, and without the LotR section in white dwarf you'll have smaller White Dwarfs, not bigger 40K sections.

And on your second point, no, LotR is not for kids.
Walk into any GW store, there's a good chance you'll notice a LOT of kids playing 40K. I'm sure there is some comment involving kettles, pots, and the respective pigmentation of each that applies here but I'll spare you

No, LotR is for people that enjoy the fictional works of J.R.R.T., and people that want to play a fluid skirmish game


You're allowed to not like the game, so long as you understand that others are JUST as justified in liking it, and they deserve to have their game supported just like you do.

[Forgotmytea]

Away from the pointless spamming arguments...

I quite like the look of it, as I've always been an avid fan of Tolkien's The Hobbit, but again it's just a question of time, money and lack of nearby opponents - my driving lessons currently cost 46 pounds each!!

So, that leaves me cashless. If one of my friends bought it and wanted a game, though, I wouldn't say no.

[Karhedron]

How big is the terrain in comparison to normal sized GW figs?
any pics to show me?
Id consider gettin it ebay or something cheap if the terrain is workable

It depends on what you want to use the terrain for. Battle of 5 Armies is made to 10mm scale which means the terrain would be far too small for Warhammer or 40k (which are 28mm scale). The terrain would probably be OK for Warmaster or Epic though as these are 10mm and 6mm respectively.

[Sabbad]

The hills on the other hand are really useful for Warhammer and 40K games- although they represent small foothills rather than the vast mountains they are in BoFA.

[Gondorian]

Guys, if you're going to go into the long immensely irritating arguments over the systems then it's best to start new threads. I play all three of the main systems and believe that each is equally just in its existance. As to the games in other scales, I heard inquisitor and warmaster mentioned, while some people may see it as gw trying to con more money out of you remember that you and you alone decide what you spend money on. Let the people who do enjoy such systems spend theirs in what they want to buy.

Back on topic, I played this game breifly when a friend bought the set. I quite enjoyed it but also felt that there were some inbalances in the rules that needed sorting, namely the way dwarves could tear through multiple enemies a turn. I would have got into it if I'd had the money to buy my own set and the time to spend making armies for it.
I would like to see it develop further but whether that'll happen or not uncertain.

[Bombot]

I bought BoFA precisely because I couldn’t see myself getting devoted to Warmaster but wanted to give the system a try. Seeing as BoFA gives me all I need in one box, that did me. Now I haven’t played it yet but I was expecting to go for a while before playing it.

PS - lol at all the 40k players on here getting snooty about LoTR!

[The game is afoot]

PS - lol at all the 40k players on here getting snooty about LoTR!

heh, yeah, they haven't taken a look at the rulebook or they'd crap themselves, it's full of small print rules without all the big glossy pictures and the shabby rules that you have ti dice off for.. lol.

[Tymell]

heh, yeah, they haven't taken a look at the rulebook or they'd crap themselves, it's full of small print rules without all the big glossy pictures and the shabby rules that you have ti dice off for.. lol.

This has reached a new all time high...GW players are now even splitting into scathing factions amongst themselves

[Brandir]

..... No, LotR is for people that enjoy the fictional works of J.R.R.T. .....

Fiction????

I thought it was true. Next you'll be telling me that the Tooth Fairy is a fiction invented parents :cries:

Using the Warmaster 'engine' I have had a few superb gaming sessions using the BO5A basic box set. Unfortunately it is a limited game in terms of support for non-BO5A related armies.

In my little world this is just the first of a series of 'Great Battles of Middle-earth' box sets; 'Helms Deep', 'Seige of Gondor' and 'Battle of Fornost' are just some of the box sets that GW will be releasing over the coming months.

[alexh]

I got BoFA yesterday as part of the WH 25th anniversary celebrations and am looking forward to my first game next week with one of the staff in my local GW.

[Tymell]

I thought it was true. Next you'll be telling me that the Tooth Fairy is a fiction invented parents :cries:

Nah, the Tooth Fairy is real. But parents are a fiction invented by Tooth Fairies.

[LordVonTush]

Since I don't think the OP questions were answered I'll share my thoughts (plus I need to get a few posts in so I can start a new thread in the AI forum with a few questions I have on the game).

Regarding additional scenarios - In the book there are some other scenarios that they mention, but they don't provide recommended army lists, recommended game size or recommended scenery setup. Heck while were at it, they don't even mention win/loss conditions. Basically you get a one paragraph synopse about an engagement in one of the books and that is about it in terms of extra scenarios.

I myself haven't played BoFA but I have played Warmaster and the two sets of rules, with the exception of a few odds and ends, are the exact same.

Since I haven't played BoFA yet I can't comment directly on the replayability but I can't image it being that great. The line has been discontinued and some are straight up out of stock. Since they only did one print run, chances are you'll never see models come out for it again to expand the forces once you tire of the only scenario in the book.

BoFA works better as a supplement, in my opinion, to Warmaster and a tool for prospective players. It has a theme which people are open and familar to (unlike the regular WFB world). If you get someone to play BoFA and they like the game then I'd steer them towards WM if they want to start playing.