SBG Magazine - Issue 7

The seventh issue arived hot on the tail of the sixth issue. The production values of the magazine have improved from a not-too-shabby start, and the guys are getting into their strides of producing a fan magazine. Their enthusiam for the game has not diminished one iota and that comes through in the writing.

SBG Magazine - Issue 7

 SBG - Issue 7 - Summer 2018

How to win a Golden Demon - Part 2 (A 3 page interview with Dave Fredericks, the second half of Shadow and Flame fame, on how to convert miniatures in readiness)

The Dr's Corner - The author ponders what has kept him in the hobby for 25 years (4 pages)

The Dr's Mother - Damien's mother's take on his last 25 years of hobbying (2 pages)

Tactica - The Iron Hills - Part 2 (4 more pages about playing to Durin's Folk's strengths. This issue sees war machines and champions get their coverage)

A Giant Adventrue - A 5 page insight into how to build the Stone Giants and a massive 10' diorama that feature in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie and the first of the battle reports for this issue

Battle Report - This battle report documents a "What if" encounter in the Misty Mountains between Thorin's company and an ambush by goblins whilst the Stone Giants have their deadly duel.  This 13 page report sums up the action that took place in the game, as well as a big two-page centre-spread picture of the battle in progress showing the terrain and models in all their glory

Sculpting Tips - a 2 page tutorial on how to convert some dwarf champions (Fili, Kili, Dwalin and Balin) to ride in the chariot from the scene in the film

Painting Masterclass: Bilbo Baggins. 2 pages explain how to paint the Bilbo Baggins with Sting miniature. There is also a brief half-page article on how to convert standard Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs into Gundabad Warg Riders

Battle Report - Chase Along the Frozen River - This battle report recreates the chariot chase scene in The Battle of the Five Armies film. This 6 page report sums up the action that took place in the game

There was not too much in the way of rules and figure articles in this issue, but the terrain article and battle reports were a fun read. Theme-based scenarios are always better, in my humble opinion, than just plonking miniatures on a table and duking it out. This is the last of The Hobbit : Strategy Battle Game based issues. The release of the new Middle Earth branded Strategy Game is nigh.

SBG Magazine - Issue 6

The sixth issue of SBG magazine is put under the spotlight today. The magazine is becoming quite established now.

SBG Magazine - Issue 6

 SBG - Issue 6 - Spring 2018

The Editorial, Contents and the SBG Towers behind the scenes pages again start off this magazine, with The Hobby Blog page again at the back of this issue. I won't mention these again as they are now a very established part of the magazine and don't really have that much hobby related material.

Of Dice and Men (part 2) - Another 5 page article on dice probability and how to use stats to your advantage in a game

The Dr's Corner - The author contemplates what impact his love for Middle-earth has had on his everyday life (4 pages)

Tactica - The Iron Hills - Part 1 (4 pages about playing to Durin's Folk's strengths. This month sees basic warriors, goat riders and heroes get their coverage)

Battle Report - To the King! (This report documents the massive battle outside of Dale between Azog's forces of darkness and Dain and his doughty dwarf followers. 18 pages sums up the after action report, a run down of which miniatures were hot and which were not, as wellas a big two-page centre-spread picture of the battle in progress)

How to win a Golden Demon - Part 1 (A 5 page interview with Kev Lawrence of Shadow and Flame fame)

Painting Masterclass: Thorin Oakenshield. A 3 page article detailing how to paint the leader of the thirteen

Sculpting Tips - a 2 page tutorial on how to convert some plastic versiosn of Thorin, Fili and Kiliinto likenesses of the characters who charge out of Erebor to join Dain in has fight against Azog

 

This issue saw a lot more useful hints and tips return to the magazine.This was mainly a painting and modelling issue with another long Battle Report, but there were a few useful rules articles. Again the focus was on The Hobbit : Strategy Battle Game but the focus on the new Middle Earth branded Strategy Game is on the horizon.

SBG Magazine - Issue 5

This issue of SBG magazine takes us over the half-way point for the physical versions; five down, four to go (plus the two pdfs). As per the previous posts, there will be a brief summary of each article, followed by an overview/thoughts on this particular issue.

SBG Magazine - Issue 5

 SBG - Issue 5 - Summer 2017

The Editorial, Contents and the SBG Towers behind the scenes pages again start off this magazine, with The Hobby Blog page again at the back of this issue.

Of Dice and Men (part 1) - A 5 page article on dice probability and how to use stats to your advantage in a game

A Lifetime of Gaming Tolkien - Guest writer Joe McCullough writes a piece about his forays into Middle-earth gaming (not just SBG) over the years (4 pages)

Tactica - Elven Spell-casters (4 pages about playing to Galadriel's and Elrond's strengths. There are also brief mentions for Cirdan, Celeborn and Arwen)

Battle Report - The Battle of Dale after action report (20 pages)

Building Middle-earth - Dale House (a 4 page article on how to build the terrain featured in the battle report)

Speed sculpting - a 2 page tutorial on how to sculpt Percy, Hilda, Bianca, Bain, Sigrid and Hilda

Painting Masterclass: Back to its original name, we have an article detailing how to paint Gandalf the Grey this time

The Battle Report for this issue was overly long but it also focused on the terrain built specificaly for this sceanrio, as well as the scenario. This was another The Hobbit : Strategy Battle Game based magazine but more Lord of the Rings set magazines are soon to come.

SBG Magazine - Issue 4

The issue of SBG magazine under the spotlight today is Number 4. I will try to get a write-up done every day until all 9 are completed (and maybe the two PDFs?). As per the previous posts, this one will also take on the format of a brief summary of each article, followed by an overview/thoughts on this particular issue.

SBG Magazine - Issue 4

 SBG - Issue 4 - Autumn 2016

The first three pages are the usual suspects; Editorial, Contents and the SBG Towers behind the scenes pages. There is mention that they have sold 1,000 physical copies of the magazine in just 4 issues - not bad for a fanzine! The Hobby Blog page is again at the back of this issue.

Scenario - The Hunt for Thrain (a 5 page mini-scenario - in which Gandalf hunts for Thrain in the dungeons of Dol Guldur

The Dr's Corner - An opinion piece on why he thinks people view the world of wargaming with scorn and derision (4 pages)

Tactica - The Istari (4 pages about playing to Gandalf's, Saruman's and Radagast's strengths. No mention of Alatar and Pallando - the two Blue Wizards or the Ithryn Luin as they were known collectively - most likely because there are no official stats due to them not being a part of the Lord of the rings films, although they are mentioned briefly in one of them)

Ruling Dol Goldur - An article about some new rules inspired by the Hill of Sorcery gaming board created specifically for the magazine this issue (2 pages)

Battle Report - a follow-on battle from last issue, where Gandalf sets out to rescure those members of the White Council captured in the previous game (an 11 page, turn-by-turn battle report, based upon the new rules detailed above)

The Garrison of Dol Guldur - A list of units allowable for the scenario above and for later Dol Guldur based games (a single page army list)

Building Middle-earth - Dol Guldur (a 7 page article on how to build the terrain featured in the battle report)

Hobby Corner: This seems to be a new way of presenting the previously separate articles for converting and painting miniatures...

The Spawn of Ungoliant - a 3 page tutorial on how to convert spiders, make the cages showcased in the battle report and how to make Dol Guldur themed bases

Painting the Nazgul - How to paint the Nazgul conversions created in Issue 3 of the magazine (2 pages)

Wounding Gandalf - A couple of Gandalf conversions to be used as objective markers and centre-pieces for scenarios (2 pages)

 

This issue got back on track with far more informative/useful material and a lot less chatty filler.  Again, the focus was on The Hobbit era, but the content was presented by way of articles that can help improve one's hobby with hints and tips on how to convert miniatures and build scenery - always a skill that I find dauntingly difficult.

SBG Magazine - Issue 3

Today it is the turn of Issue 3 of SBG magazine. Again, I will present a brief summary of each of the articles and follow up the post with an overview/thoughts on this particular issue.

SBG Magazine - Issue 3

 SBG - Issue 3 - Spring 2016

The first few pages are the standard Editorial and Contents pages, as well as a behind the scenes snippet page about what is currently going on in the editors' world. The Hobby Blog is again at the back of the magazine.

Overhill and Underhill - No Dr's Corner this issue, but another informal chat piece about attending tournaments (3 pages)

Tom's Top 10 - Under-costed heroes Part 2 (another 4 pages this issue on under-pointed hero models in the game)

Scenario - The Siege of Dol Goldur (a 4 page scenario idea - when the White Council confronts the Necromancer in his lair) 

Tactica - The Ring Wraiths (a 5 page article on how to get the best out of your Ring Wraiths)

Battle Report - a write-up of the SBG team's run through of the above scenario (a 17 page article detailing a turn-by-turn battle report, culminating in an aftermath discussion of how each player felt the scenario went for them, what they could have done better, and which miniature on each side was the stand-out performer)

Summoning the Nine - A conversion guide to recreating the ring Wraiths from the movies (4 pages)

Shadow & Flame - The Necromancer and Saruman (an article by the Shadow & Flam guys for creating an original sculpt for the Necromancer and how to paint The Hobbit version of Saruman - 4 pages)

 

Although there were some very nice articles about the Ring Wraiths, this issue had a little more what seemed like filler than the previous magazine. The battle report was overly long but the gaming related articles - painting, model points costs, tactics and the scenario idea etc. - were all very useful. Again, the magazine was primarily focused on the Hobbit era of the game, so not too much information if your main interest is the Lord of the Rings era.

SBG Magazine - Issue 2

Today I will take a quick look at Issue 2 of the Strategy Battle Game magazine. Again, I will present a brief summary of each of the articles and follow up the post with an overview/thoughts on this particular issue.

SBG Magazine - Issue 2

 SBG - Issue 2 - Spring 2015

The first two pages are the standard Editorial and Contents pages. The Hobby Blog page that detailed what the SBG contributors are up to with their hobby, which was featured at the beginnnng of the previous issue, has been moved to the back of this magazine.

Tom's Top 10 - Under-costed heroes Part 1 (a 4 page discussion on under-pointed hero models in the game)

The Dr's Corner - An informal chat article about making friends as a gamer (4 pages)

Of Fluff and Fury - An article about the joys of using a themed army as opposed to a competitive army in tournament play (4 pages)

Scenario - The Battle of Azanulbizar (a 4 page scenario idea - orcs versus dwarves outside the Dimril Gate of Moria where Azog's feud with Thorin began)

Tactica - Azog's Hunters (a 5 page article on how to get the best out of your Hunter Orc army)

Battle Report - a write-up of the SBG team's run through of the above scenario (a 13 page article detailing a turn-by-turn battle report, culminating in an aftermath discussion of how each player felt the scenario went for them, what they could have done better, and which miniature on each side was the stand-out performer)

Painting Masterclass - Thror (a 3 page tutorial)

Building Middle-earth - Dimrill Dale (a 3 page article on how to build the terrain featured in the Battle of Azanulbizar scenario and battle report)

Conversion Clinic - Arming Azog (a 2 page tutorial class on how to convert the standard Azog miniature without a forearm into an "earlier" version of him with an intact forearm. There is also a brief Balin conversion tutorial too)

 

Again, another decent read full of different types of article to suit all Middle-earth gamers. A lot more thought went into the content of this magazine and much of the filler has been removed. The gaming related articles - painting, model points costs, tactics and the scenario idea etc. - are all very useful and, again, although I am not keen on battle reports in general, this one showcased some lovely conversions and terrain pieces. The only minor criticism I have of this (and the previous) magazine is that it is primarily The Hobbit focused (I prefer the Lord of the Rings era setting). I am aware that this was the period when Games Workshop was promoting The Hobbit era of the game, so I cannot complain too loudly.

SBG Magazine - Issue 1

This took a little longer to get around to than I anticipated. I have recently moved home and, as a result, a lot of my gaming stuff is away in boxes dotted around the house and garage. This weekend just gone, I managed to get the storage box that contained my SBG magazine collection from out of the "to be sorted" pile.

Whilst going through the box I also found my collection of DeAgostini/New Line Cinema/Games Workshop collaboration Battle Games in Middle-earth partworks magazine - all 91 issues plus the three specials. I will most likely flip through these again soon, so I may get together some stats and thoughts on these mags too at a later date as an aide-de-memoir.

Anyway, on with the show for this blog post. I will just do a very brief summary of the articles and an overview/thoughts on each issue of the magazine.

SBG Magazine - Issue 1

 SBG - Issue 1 - Autumn 2014

First up is an Editorial, followed by the contents page and a Hobby Blog page that details what each of the main members of the SBG team have been up to Middle-earth gaming-wise.

Painting Masterclass - White Horses (a 3 page tutorial)

Tom's Top 10 - Under-costed warriors (a 4 page discussion on under-pointed models in the game)

The Dr's Corner - An informal chat style article about "coming out" as a gamer (4 pages)

Tactica - Cavalry (an 8 page article on how to get the best out of your cavalry)

Scenario - Out of the Frying Pan (a 2 page scenario idea - Bilbo, Gandalf and the 13 Dwarves versus Azog and a bunch of Hunter Orcs and Wargs - where the company try to get to the safety of the trees to escape their pursuers)

Battle Report - a write-up of the SBG team's run through of the above scenario (a 13 page article detailing a turn-by-turn battle report, culminating in an aftermath discussion of how each player felt the scenario went for them, what they could have done better, and which miniature on each side was the stand-out performer)

Event Reviews - Finally there is an 8 page summary of forthcoming GBHL (Great British Hobbit League) events, a few event reviews, and a summary of the 2013 GBHL League results.

 

Overall, this was a decent read, considering it was the first issue and none of the people involved in making it are professional gaming magazine editors. A few of the articles are obviously "filler" but may be of use to some people, however, I did enjoy the actual gaming related articles - painting, model points costs, tactics and the scenario idea. I am not overly keen on write-ups, as they take up a lot of magazine real-estate, however they do give an idea of how tactics can work, as well as showing off some lovely painted miniatures to stoke the creative fires.

White Dwarf #52 - The White Council and Radagast the Brown

After sorting through all my LotR miniatures during the last week, I decided today to pop into my local Games Workshop to pick up some new paints and so on. I picked up enough to get me started on my orcs - I chose these as my first army to paint as they can be used as allies for pretty much all Evil armies and can fight against all Good armies.

Whilst there, I noticed that the latest White Dwarf (Issue #52) was out. I picked this up and even got the manager to dig out a free copy of White Dwarf issue #47. I had heard that issue #47 had a small Bilbo vs. Smaug game that was played with cards. It got my interest piqued, so I grabbed a copy.

Once again, I will only detail The Hobbit articles that appear in the magazine and mention the overall theme for the rest of the contents.

White Dwarf #47

The front cover presents a rather nice picture of the new Smaug miniature. It is a very nice sculpt but unfortunately it is well out of my price range and I doubt I could paint it well enough to do it any justice.

The bulk of the magazine is taken up with the new Warhammer 40,000 Cities of Death rules and some free cards but my main interest was just the four-page article entitled Hunt for the Arkenstone. It is a playing card-based game that allows two players to recreate Bilbo's hunt for the aforesaid jewel before he is caught by the dragon Smaug.

White Dwarf #52

The main thrust of this issue is the reawakening of the Necrons for Warhammer 40,000.

What I was interested in though (and why I parted with my cash) was The Hobbit stuff. There is a fair amount on the latest figures releases in this issue...

• The White Council and Radagast the Brown are detailed in a short article with attendant pictures (2 pages)
• The Fall of the Necromancer - a scenario in which to use the new White Council miniatures against the Necromancer and his nine attendant Ring Wraiths (2 pages)
• Stats for The White Council and Radagast riding a Great Eagle (4 pages)

 This is only a small haul of The Hobbit goodness (8/32 pages, or 25% of the magazine content) but I feel that I have to occasionally purchase the magazines with content relevant to me to show Games Workshop that I still want magazine support for the hobby. If everyone else interested in the ruleset were to do the same, the spikes in sales of White Dwarf with The Hobbit content may show Games Workshop the game is popular and warrants a little more attention - one mag per month or two chock full of only The Hobbit stuff would be ideal.

With regards the new minis detailed in the magazine; I doubt I will buy them. They do look very nice but as they are cast in resin they are in a medium I am not too keen on. Sadly, most of The Hobbit releases are in Finecast, so I doubt I will buy any of them. However, the few plastic sets that are available (and hopefully others soon to be released) may allow me to collect some minis and play a few battles from that era as well as combine them with my LotR minis to make larger armies for certain regions for the later War of the Ring period. My existing LotR metal and plastic miniatures can proxy for those minis of beings that appear in both eras (i.e. 60 years apart).

White Dwarf #46 and The Battle of the Five Armies supplement

A little bit late, but I thought I would comment on this issue of Games Workshop's weekly printed magazine. It is not so much on the content of the magazine itself, although there were a couple of The Hobbit themed pages, but on the inclusion of a rather nifty-looking gaming supplement that I am going to comment.

Cover of The Battle of the Five Armies supplement issued with White Dwarf #46

White Dwarf became a weekly printed magazine about a year ago, but it is now mainly aimed at Games Workshop's two main universes: Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, with a smattering of The Hobbit thrown into the mix occasionally. As I do not play in either of GW's universes, I am limited to how often I buy the magazine, but as it contained a supplement of a game I would like to get back to playing, I bought it.

It is in a stapled magazine format rather than a stiff-card bound cover so, unfortunately, it will not look good on the shelf with the rest of my LotR and The Hobbit supplements. Hopefully, if GW release another issue (see later), the two may be combined into a hard card cover at some later date and I will purchase that one for my shelf.

Anyway, onto the contents - please note if you have not seen the film yet, this may contain some spoilers.

There are two new scenarios featured plus a small section on how to link them together along with the scenarios from the preceding supplements already published. These combined now tell a narrative that spans all three films...

1. The first scenario is called Fire and Water. It pits Bard, 4 dwarfs, Tauriel, the Master of Laketown, Alfrid and a captain along with 3 dozen Lake Town guardsmen against Smaug. This is meant to represent the scene in which Smaug meets his nemesis
2. The second new scenario is Assault on Ravenhill. This is a battle that pits Bilbo, 4 dwarfs including Thorin, Radagast on an eagle, 2 great eagles and Beorn against Azog, Bolg, 3 Gundabad orc captains and 3 dozen Gundabad orcs. This is meant to represent the scene where the dwarfs attack the orc leaders upon Ravenhill to end the battle raging below them

After the scenarios section is a part with the profiles for all the new The Hobbit miniatures that have just been released...

• The Good Heroes section contains the stats for Bard, Lake Town captains, the Company of Dwarfs plus Bilbo, Saruman, Radagast, Galadriel, Elrond, Thranduil, Legolas, Tauriel and Mirkwood Elf captains
• The Good Warriors section contains the stats for Mirkwood Elf cavalry, Mirkwood Elves and Laketown Militia
• The Evil Heroes section contains the stats for Azog, Bolg and Smaug

The final section of the supplement contains details on how to create themed armies depending upon where they are from or who you want to build a force around...

• There are three new armies: Desolation of the North (Smaug), Erebor Reclaimed (The Company), and Survivors of Laketown (Bard, Laketown Captains and Laketown Miltia)
• There are also amendments to some previous army lists detailed in previous supplements: Thranduil's Hall, The Army of Laketown, Azog's Hunters, Radagast's Alliance and The White Council

The final page has summary details of all of the new stats.

Overall, I am happy with the supplement, considering it cost me only the price of an issue of White Dwarf. However, I do have a few nits to pick...

1. I was hoping it would detail some of the cool evil troops in the film like the new troll variants, the ogre-type (Olog-Hai?), and the various other new orcs, as well as the Iron Hills Dwarfs, but I imagine GW are awaiting the release of some more minis before releasing another new supplement in White Dwarf that contains those missing stats
2. I had hoped a combined (this one plus my hoped-for evil one) supplement would have been released in hard card cover so that it matched in with the rest of the supplements I already own
3. As I am not a regular White Dwarf reader I have no way of knowing when these types of things come out. Even though I do subscribe to their newsletter, I still have to rely on rumours on the internet as The Hobbit material is not very well advertised

White Dwarf Weekly #12

Since a few weeks back I now have a new local Games Workshop. My usual haunt was the shop in the Bluewater shopping centre, but recently a new store was opened in my local shopping centre of Bexleyheath. This is a lot more local and I have consequently visited it a bit more often than the one that is further afield.

I have had a good chat with the manager on a couple of occasions now but unfortunately I am unable to get down there to game still as my work finishes so late that I don't get home until the gaming time has prettty much ended. Still, that does not stop me popping in for a browse around the shelves and taking a look at the gaming tables and painted minis in the cabinets.

I got chatting to a fellow gamer in the shop today who runs a gaming club in Belvedere - I may very well pop down there if the timing is right work wise. It would be nice to supplement my Wednesday night RPg stuff with some tabletop battles. It might also make me pull my finger out and get some figure painted this year!

Picture courtesy of Games Workshop's website

Anyway, back to the main point of this article; White Dwarf #12.

I missed this particular issue going on sale last week but found out via The One Ring forum that it contained some The Hobbit SBG material. As this is so few and far between I decided to try to track it down. The manager of my new local shop had a few copies put by out the back just in case rather than send all of them back to head office for shredding - good man! I duly picked up a copy. Here is a brief run down of what is on offer inside...

32 page magazine with a soft card cover
The new Citadel Tool Set (5 1/2 pages)
An Unexpected Journey battle report (4)
Sprues and Glue hobby article (4)
Paint Splatter hobby article (2)
Weekly Roundup snippets (2/3 of a page)
GW Staff The Hobbit armies (1)
Mini Picture (glossy back page)

So, we have 6 2/3 pages of The Hobbit material and 11 1/2 pages of generic hobby related material. Not as good as the contents of WD#08 but for 15-20 minutes read on a Saturday afternoon with a cup of tea and a slice of cake it is not bad value for money (£2.40). I will continue to pick up more of the magazines that contain The Hobbit material (and I hope this brief article encourages others to do so) in the hope that it spikes the sales figures thus drawing Games Workshop's attention to the player base for the SBG and encourage them to produce more material for its undoubtedly large fan base.

White Dwarf weekly #08

Used without permission - copyright Games Workshop

I popped into my local Games Workshop today whilst waiting to go to the cinema and picked up a copy of the lastest White Dwarf on the off chance. Brief overview below.

I also got to chat to a member of staff about the magazine. I wanted to have a browse through some earlier editions but he said that once the next issue comes into the shop, the rest are sent back for shredding and recycling. It seems that GW headquarters keep a few back to sell on the website after they have gone out of print, but if you want to purchase it locally, it seems best that it is bought the week it comes out.

The new White Dwarf is a glossy magazine with full colour throughout. It has a soft card cover and 32 internal pages (36 pages in all).
Inside issue #08 (I will only focus on SBG)...
Beorn and Bear (1 page)
Girion Lord of Dale (1)
Thranduil the Elven King (1)
Gundabad Orc Captain (1)
Gundabad Orc Swordsmen (1)
Gundabad Orc Spearmen (1)
Barrels out of Bond game report (4)
Lore of the Wild game advice (2)
The Week in White Dwarf roundup article (2 1/2)
Total = 14 1/2 pages out of 32 The Hobbit related material (the rest is about the new releases for 40K and a Weathering tutorial).

Not a bad issue overall - about 30-40 minutes read for £2.40

I hope this helps anyone decide that this particular magazine is for them. As The Hobbit material is very sparse in any case then it is a welcome addition to my collection but most of the info is review or background  material rather than tactica etc.

Film Review - The Desolation of Smaug

I took my eldest two to the local cinema to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug yesterday afternoon. We all really enjoyed it and had lots to talk about on the car journey on the way home. I won't give away any spoilers here, but this is a brief review of the latest epic in the Lord of the Rings cycle...

I am not usually one for new fangled technology and watching a film at the cinema in anything other than vanilla 2d is something of a departure for me. I have seen other films in 3d but have not yet been impressed. Due to ticket availability yesterday (all the other showings were sold out for groupings larger than two) I could not get to see the film in 2d and had to settle for the super high def 3d version (and the extra entrance fee that entails). The 3d effect really popped, especially when titles and subtitles apeared on the screen. Most scenes were well rendered, but fast action scenes and scenes with lots of foreground clutter were quite blurry. That said, wearing the special glasses aside, I was actually quite engrossed by the film without the effects grating on me - a plus for the new 3d stuff in my eyes (no pun intended). Maybe I am a convert to 3d now? This was the special super high-def version though, so maybe the normal 3d version would be pants in comparison?

Onto the film. I am quite a Tolkien afficionado and like my Tolkien pure (like my RE Howard etc too) but I have made exceptions for this series of films. There are several breaks from the original storyline, but by and large they seem to work. There were only a couple of scenes that grated a bit (sexual inuendo in Tolkien - No, not or me) but the story on-the-whole seemed to gel well. The introduction of the non-canon female elf ranger Tauriel actually enhanced some things, but did take away a bit of the awesomeness of Legolas in my opinion - if all elves are this good then why was Legolas so special? My daughter really liked the new character though, so I think it is one for the womenfolk - Tolkien's works can be rather spartan when it comes to strong female characters.

The baddies also get a good showing, with another great orc hero involved in the plot, and the Gundabad orcs are very well done. The fight scenes involving the orcs had just the right amount of comedic lightness to make them fantasy violence rather than being too real and gruesome (which is better for the kids). We also get to see more of the Necromancer and of course the mighty Smaug. All done very well.

We were all disappointed (in a good way) with the ending, but that is only because we were left on a bit of a cliff-hanger and all wanted to know what happens next.

I thoroughly recommend the film. We all found it better than the previous outing, which was a good film too, and are now all looking forward to the final installment.

A Trip to Games Workshop

Christmas shopping - don't you just love his time of year? Bluewater shopping centre on the last Saturday before Christmas is my idea of Hell on Earth. That said, I managed to get in and out again, ninja stylee, with all the required presents in just over an hour!

I was also able to pop into Games Workshop whilst there. I haven't bought anything for my hobby since the beginning of the year and I had a few quid burning a hole in my wallet, so I succumbed to a few new items.

I picked up the latest "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" supplement (I will do a write-up of it in the next few days as I am not going to actually read through it until I have seen the film with the kids tomorrow afternoon), a couple of paint brushes and some plastic glue.

Alex also had some spare pocket money, so he picked up a box set of the new Palace Guards. Seeing them in the flesh (along with the Elf Rangers and the latest characters in plastic) I was very impressed. The Games Workshop web-site photos do them absolutely no justice whatsoever. Hopefully I can get Alex to do a brief write-up of his new set sometime over the next week or two.

As I am about to have just over a week off for the Christmas break, I will try to get my painting mojo back in readiness for a fresh onslaught next year, with a quick look through what I still need to paint and glue.

Tomorrow I am taking the kids to see The Desolation of Smaug. I am not sure whether to see the 2d version (how I saw the first film), the standard 3d version, or the super-duper high definition 3d version. I am not one for wearing those glasses throughout a film, but I may be outvoted.

Hunter Orcs on Fell wargs

After saying that I hadn't bought any gaming gear for a while, I went down to my local shopping centre (Blue Water in Kent) yesterday and partook of some retail therapy. I needed to buy some new clothes for work (something I haven't done for about 2-3 years now - I generally do not worry about clothes until they start to get holes in them) and my youngest needed a few items as he is growing so fast. We popped into a few shops and whilst my wife was looking at girly things in a variety of places I decided to take a wander into Games Workshop. I had a couple of vouchers burning a hole in my wallet, so I spent them on some new figures from The Hobbit range and some of the new paint range.

I picked up several of the new paints (I will try them out soon and give my verdict) and a box of the Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs.

In the box you get:

Six half sprues of orcs and fell wargs - two of the half-sprues are repeated - to make up 6 orcs on wargs with two casualties
Six GW bases to mount the miniatures on

Each warg comes in 4 parts - 2 body halves and 2 head halves
The orcs (lower body) are part integral to the wargs, have a separate torso, head, and left and right arms. There are several variants of each to make a very diverse force, so it will take several boxes before the same warg rider needs to be built.

The sculpting is very crisp and very fine - the methodology has come on leaps and bounds since the early days of the Riders of Rohan and Warriors of Gondor. GW are doing a great job with these figures IMHO.

My only question for this box set is why GW didn't sculpt the riders separately from the wargs? That said, GW sell separate wargs, so I can only assume they will not contain any orc parts and maybe are different poses to those in this box? Perhaps they sculpted the wargs first, tooled them, and then sculpted the orcs on them and tooled them again? I am interested in finding this out.

I really like these minis - much more so than the original hyena-wargs that went before (but that's not to say I didn't like those minis). My only criticism is the weapons - I am not a fan of crinkle-cut blades, and there are far too many of them in the box for my liking.

Overall, I would give these a 8.5 out of 10. Alex bought the Elven Cavalry recently, and those are well worth a 9.5 - they are fantastic sculpts. Maybe I can get him to paint them soon as he has already glued them up ready for undercoating, so I can give a brief overview of that set too.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Well, I finally got around to seeing this film yesterday afternoon with a couple of the kids, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised despite some fairly negative comments I have seen on the net.

Picture courtesy of Google Images

I felt it stuck to the book reasonably well, with a few diversions that fit into the canon (welcomed) and a few that did not (mostly they worked well). I especially liked the ways in which PJ got around the fact that in The Hobbit some of the animals are able to talk, but in the film he has made it that they do not - thus the (re-)introduction of a couple of deus ex machina to resolve the issues.

Many critics have said that the intro and meeting at Bilbo's hobbit hole dragged, but I found I enjoyed the slow build up without it dragging at all. There is a fair bit of light heartedness and the singing was actually good for the film - I am also happy to know the tune that was set to the songs in the books, so I can sing along with them (in my head) the next time I read them. They did not detract from the film IMHO - the Hobbit was a kids' book afterall and should be light hearted and full of song and cheer; plenty of time for it to get darker and match the tone of LotR later.

There have been a few new characters introduced, but none too obscure to detract from the film, and a few removed. I feel that Azog is going to be a recurring baddie (as opposed to, IIRC, his son Bolg in the book) - hopefully more use will be made of him than was Lurtz in the LotR films. Azog reminded me very much of the lead "zombie" in I Am Legend. Perhaps PJ changed the amount of characters to make things flow a bit better so as not to confuse the audience who have not read the books with too many adversarises that would otherwise just blend into one another anyway.

A few scenes from the book have been amended slightly for the film but the outcomes were still the same. There are a few new scenes too, but without going into too much detail only one didn't work for me - a chase involving Radagast the Brown - but the rest of his role as the bearer of ill tidings fit in nicely. There are glimpses of what is still to come in the next two films too.

My favourite aspects of the film, other than a reasonably good rendering of the book, are the mounted elves (awesome), the hunter orcs and dire wargs (brutal), and the fact that the animals do not speak (although I suspect Smaug will be a speaker - but maybe/hopefully by some form of telepathy?)

As we walked out of the cinema both of the kids said they couldn't wait for the Blu-Ray version, and have since said they want to go to see it again. I am more than happy to oblige them.

My wife, who is not at all into fantasy or sci-fi stuff, has said she will take a trip to see it on the feedback she has had from us all. Previously, she has fallen asleep during LotR and a variety of other sci-fi films I have taken her to see, but I think she may just stay awake for this one. She may have started to see the light when it comes to sci-fant films after being subjected to the first of the Alien and Predator films during the Christmas break, and saying that she actually enjoyed them!

From a gaming perspective, there are a few battle scenes that can easily be recreated on the tabletop, and seeing the miniatures released by GW, the whole film will be easy to recreate - although where I am going to get several hundred goblins on the cheap I do not know :-)

Overall, I would give this film about 8.5 out of 10. I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it was, and it was actually better than I anticipated. Now to get on and paint those figures I bought just before Christmas so I can plan an Escape from Goblin Town.

The Hobbit: Escape from Goblin Town - What's in the box

I succumbed. I popped down to Blue Water shopping centre to do the Christmas shopping this weekend just gone to get the family their presents, but I was also looking for something to buy myself to celebrate the festive period. Anyway, at the end of the day, I wound up inside Games Workshop whilst Mrs Odo popped into some cosmetic shop or other. I was only going in for a look and came out with the new box set.

Image used without permission - Copyright Games Workshop Limited

 

I had a good look at the contents when I got home, and started on reading the new rules. There are a few differences/additions compared to the LotR Strategy Battle Game, but essentially it is the same game and one that your old LotR minis can still be used for.

Anyway, this is what you get in the box...

2 Large sprues of Goblin Town scenery (walkways and ramparts)
1 Large sprue of the Goblin King, his throne, a captain and the sling type contraption complete with an extra tichy captain, scribe in the sling
2 identical sprues of goblins, each containing 18 goblins to give a total of 36 goblins (+4 from above to give a grand total of 40 goblins in the box set)
1 sprue of the 13 Dwarfs, Bilbo and Gandalf
1 small sprue with the limited edition Radagast the Brown

2 bags of bases to mount the figures on
8 white standard GW dice
1 plastic measuring tool (24" long in two pieces that can swivel/fold in the middle

A set of instrucrtions to build the minatures
A set of instructions to build the Radagast miniature
A stat sheet and scenarion for using Radagast the Brown
"Your Journey Begins Here" booklet - contains details of scenarios to help you get into the game, as well as stats for all miniatures in the box set
A quick play "Play Sheet"
An A5 sized rules booklet for the Strategy Battle Game

Thoughts...

Well, I have got to say I am very impressed with the detail and quality of the miniatures. The goblins are not my favourites style-wise (not that I dislike them - they may just take a little getting used to) but are none-the-less sculpted very well, with lots of details. The dwarf company have to be some of the best plastic miniatures I have seen for a long time - full of exquisite detail. I have to admit that when I first saw the painted miniatures in my local GW I thought they were Finecast, such was the quality of the sculpts. Alex has now got his eyes on a sprue of them if/when they are released separately. The only gripe I have with them is that they are of varying heights. Nothing wrong with that in itself as everyone is a different size, even in fantasy realms, but a few are not really dwarf sized - they are quite tall to say the least. Then again, that may just emulate the size of the characters in the film.

Overall, if you are a fan of the books, films or SBG then I would recommend the box set. Yes, it is a little pricey, but you do get quite a lot for your money - a full game with plenty of scenarios in the box. And to buy the parts separately it would be a heck of a lot more.

Next...

I also took a look at the new Hunter Orcs and Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs whilst I was in GW. Again I really like these and will definitely be getting some (lots) of these. I am not too keen on the trolls (Bill, Bert and Tom) though, and as they come in a bit too much for my wallet figures/pound, I doubt I will buy them. The Finecast White Council are very nice figures too, but again are too expensive figures/ pound, so I doubt I'll get these either. Now, if they were released in metal and were a lot cheaper I would definitely get them.

I also got a sneak peak of the elf cavalry that are due out in the next few months - again they are very nice.

It seems that GW have really pulled out all the stops with this new range and I really hope they keep up the quality for the entire range. The price has risen slightly, but I have read that this is because the franchise has cost them a lot more this time round. Not sure what I think of this yet, but I still think the non-"big monster" plastic miniatures remain just inside my range of value for money.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (White Dwarf-Dec 12)

I took a trip down to my local GW today to take a look at the new "The Hobbit" stuff on offer. Unfortunately the stores do not get anything in until actual release date, but I managed to have a good chat with the manager of the shop and one of the staff before purchasing the latest White Dwarf for perusal at home - something I have not done since February 2011.

WD December 2012 - Image used without permission - Copyright Games Workshop

We can expect the game to be an update of the Strategy Battle Game we have all come to love said the GW bods. It looks like the new rulebook is indeed the next step in the evolution of the game, and I found out that the new hardback should contain the latest ruleset (but previous supplements are compatible) for both LotR and TH (The Hobbit). It includes a beastiary and rules for all of the existing range of LotR miniatures as well as the new stuff coming out. The softback that comes with the box set "Escape from Goblin Town" will contain a cut-down set of rules that only caters for The Hobbit.

Delving into White Dwarf, we have no less than 62 pages of The Hobbit goodness out of a total of 144 actual pages - not a bad return in comparison to previous months' magazines (the reason I stopped buying White Dwarf was because of its very limited cover of LotR:SBG). Inside the magazine we find the following articles...

• Introduction to The Hobbit game - detailing the new releases with a nice double spread, gatefold section (which actually takes the page count to 66 pages in total). We are introduced to the game, the Dwarfs, the denizens of Goblin Town, the Trolls (William, Bert and Tom) and the Hunter Orcs (both on and off Fell Wargs) with their leaders.
• There are three pages of The Hobbit related adverts detailing all of the new releases
• There is a Bat Rep for the scenario in the new box set
• A short painting guide for some of the new miniatures
• A Design Studio article on the inspiration for the miniatures by the sculptors

There are also a few articles on Warhammer (a featured Ogre army and painting guide) and Warhammer 40K (a delve into the realms of Forgeworld and attack craft/vehicles). These game systems are not really my thing, but the articles look potentially good for WH and WH40K players.

I have to admit I am becoming quite excited by these new releases for SBG, and the photos of the minis look good so far. To summarise a few things for you ...

• Many of the new releases are plastics (good news!) - the Company of Dwarfs, goblins, Goblin King, the Trolls, Hunter Orcs and Orcs on Fell Wargs (the wargs are VERY nice imho - I will definitely be getting some of these - there are three warg bodies and four heads, hopefully giving a dozen decent poses to go with the 27 combinations for the riders).
• Finecast releases include the leaders of the goblins and orcs (a couple GW stylee captains, Bolg and Fimbul), as well as The White Council
• A couple of new rulebooks - hardback for the full set and the softback that comes with the box set
• A paint set that includes five goblins
• A set of scenery called goblin Town (also included in the box set)
• A release of the plastic Fellowship of the Ring figures that originally came with the Mines of Moria box set - tempting I must say

Overall, both the releases for The Hobbit and the new White Dwarf have been great to see this month, and they have definitely renewed my interest in the Strategy Battle Game.