Loved this dude! No need to apologise for doing the same as all the other channels, your unique and personal take on stuff is always great value. I really love the box, it's a cracking starter set for new players with some lovely new models and scenery for established players. It's obviously not gonna be worth it if you don't need any of the Good or Evil troops but I didn't have any Rangers and you can't have too many of those amazing troll kits so I was very happy to pick it up. It's always nice to flick through a new book too, even if it's not a full new edition. Ultimately it's a game I love and I want to support it so I was very happy to pick it up and add it to the collection. I've been getting excited about new GW boxed games since 1994 and as recently as 2016 I thought we'd never see another one for SBG so I'm very happy to jump on board. I'm really looking forward to getting the Rangers and the new Good Heroes painted up in the next couple of months - great stuff all round! Damian
Yeah, with the miniatures that it included, it filled a gap in my collection. I donated a bunch of miniatures to a friend so he could start his Minas Tirith army so this was a good way to build up the stock of Gondor again! I have metal Osgiliath Boromir somewhere which will get repainted/touched up for this as well as Gandalf The White, Pippin in armour etc. So, it should turn out pretty well! Actually sitting down and gluing most of it together today!
Got it ordered today... finally after years and years i get my hands on a starter set. I strated collecting LOTR miniatures almost 10 years ago, back then it was just about painting and collecting them, luckily enough i have none of the models in this box, but they will combine perfect with some of the minitaures i own, like classic Mordor Orcs, Fell Beast Witch king, and Warriors of Harad.
I got the balins tomb when they did the fellowship anniversary and as awesome as this box is, i wish theyd done something about the same sorta scale. It was way to much in Aussie dollary doos for me to jump in with as a starter.
It is a bit hefty that's for sure but it might be something that could be a good spit with a friend. One side goes Evil, the other Good and then you work together on the terrain :)
I am tempted to get some trays to rank up some of my existing Middle-earth collection and use them for 1st Age wargaming in the Silmarillion. I'm tossing that up between diving into the plastics from Oathmark too haha. But you are indeed correct!
Yeah I was tempted by Eomer, Theodon etc (which are probably my next purchases) but skipped on them. So very much looking forward to working on Faramir and co!
@@BecauseOfDragons well I have a spare theoden from the previous starter set (I may of bought a couple!) you are welcome to it if you would chuck in a few quid for postage
It would certainly give you a lot of options for making Battle Companies for Gondor and Mordor. In many cases, you can get away with starting Battle Companies with just a box of the plastic Warriors but this could be a good way to get a lot of options for starting out and growing your warbands potentially. You get some nice terrain though as well which is a bonus and will help fill out your tabletops for playing your games.
@@tiredguy2753 If you've got a pal to split the big Osgiliath set with I'd say go for that - as long as you both want Gondor and Mordor. If you're doing it by yourself I'd say maybe the Battlehost as it's cheaper, comes with a bunch of options still AND can be played as it stands against any other Battlehost/comes with a neat character to lead them. Both give you a good grounding with your core plastic troops. As I say, just one of the basic plastic boxes of 30 odd troops would also do the job but you'd need to buy separate sets to expand into of course. Hope this helps!
Most of their starter sets offer up a discount on buying the kits separately but it depends on if you already have some Gondor/Mordor or if you're totally starting new. If you're starting from scratch with the game then i think it's a great box to pick up.
Having purchased this recently as a complete noob, I wish I had not spent the money. As a 'starter' kit, it fails, with many of the sculpts requiring assembly that is, to say the least, challenging for a beginner (can they really not cast the Rangers with their tiny heads attached?). To say nothing of the painting, which can be quite daunting for new people. It is very frustrating to try to prepare an army and feel like I'm ruining it.
The newer plastic heroes are more challenging than the older miniatures in the set that is for sure. I would say that they did do a good job on the guides though, although I am coming at that from someone who has been playing for a few decades now. Best thing to do is just take is slowly and maybe dry fit the miniatures to begin with to make sure they go in the right place. When it comes to the painting, try and just do the best you can - no-one should judge you if you're just starting out and it's all a learning experience
I would say pick up one of these boxes and then if you want to expand, pick up the Minas Tirith and Mordor Battlehosts as they give you a good selection of miniatures and don't double anything up.
A lot of people will write an army roster so you don't have to flick back and forth all the time. Or, as I mentioned in another comment you could try this MESBG list builder which makes cards for you avcordaro.github.io/mesbg-list-builder/
If you liked what I do and fancy giving me a little donation, a Ko-Fi is always welcome ko-fi.com/becauseofdragons
Loved this dude! No need to apologise for doing the same as all the other channels, your unique and personal take on stuff is always great value. I really love the box, it's a cracking starter set for new players with some lovely new models and scenery for established players. It's obviously not gonna be worth it if you don't need any of the Good or Evil troops but I didn't have any Rangers and you can't have too many of those amazing troll kits so I was very happy to pick it up. It's always nice to flick through a new book too, even if it's not a full new edition. Ultimately it's a game I love and I want to support it so I was very happy to pick it up and add it to the collection. I've been getting excited about new GW boxed games since 1994 and as recently as 2016 I thought we'd never see another one for SBG so I'm very happy to jump on board. I'm really looking forward to getting the Rangers and the new Good Heroes painted up in the next couple of months - great stuff all round! Damian
Yeah, with the miniatures that it included, it filled a gap in my collection. I donated a bunch of miniatures to a friend so he could start his Minas Tirith army so this was a good way to build up the stock of Gondor again! I have metal Osgiliath Boromir somewhere which will get repainted/touched up for this as well as Gandalf The White, Pippin in armour etc. So, it should turn out pretty well! Actually sitting down and gluing most of it together today!
@@BecauseOfDragons Enjoy dude! Hopefully we'll see the results in a video soon!
Good vid Ben - very thorough. Thanks for posting this!
Thanks :) Hopefully helpful!
Thanks for the video mate, this was super helpful for me while I’m looking to get into this hobby for the first time!
Great to hear! Have fun in Middle-earth!
Got it ordered today... finally after years and years i get my hands on a starter set. I strated collecting LOTR miniatures almost 10 years ago, back then it was just about painting and collecting them, luckily enough i have none of the models in this box, but they will combine perfect with some of the minitaures i own, like classic Mordor Orcs, Fell Beast Witch king, and Warriors of Harad.
Brilliant stuff - should allow you to play out a pretty epic clash on the fields of Pelennor and beyond then!
I got the balins tomb when they did the fellowship anniversary and as awesome as this box is, i wish theyd done something about the same sorta scale. It was way to much in Aussie dollary doos for me to jump in with as a starter.
It is a bit hefty that's for sure but it might be something that could be a good spit with a friend. One side goes Evil, the other Good and then you work together on the terrain :)
@@BecauseOfDragons yeah just wish they paired it back to something a bit more affordable. GW seems to have fallen in love with this price point lately
There's a 1000/1500 point army for Oathmark in there, so if you brought a couple more troop boxes you'd have a decent army.
I am tempted to get some trays to rank up some of my existing Middle-earth collection and use them for 1st Age wargaming in the Silmarillion. I'm tossing that up between diving into the plastics from Oathmark too haha. But you are indeed correct!
This is a great box! Especially if you don't have the Orcs or Minas Tirith minis!
For sure - I think if you're dead new or just don't have the armies, this is a solid box :)
Your first of the new plastics? Well you are in for a treat they are so good to paint!
Yeah I was tempted by Eomer, Theodon etc (which are probably my next purchases) but skipped on them. So very much looking forward to working on Faramir and co!
@@BecauseOfDragons well I have a spare theoden from the previous starter set (I may of bought a couple!) you are welcome to it if you would chuck in a few quid for postage
Oh that would be cool! Drop me an email via becauseofdragons@gmail.com and will have a chat :)
@@BecauseOfDragons emailed mate
I look forward to the release of the terrain separately!
Me too! Plus, whatever they end up doing next. I'm crossing my fingers for some Dwarf stuff!
Would you say it is a good purchase of you are interested in playing battle companies ?
It would certainly give you a lot of options for making Battle Companies for Gondor and Mordor. In many cases, you can get away with starting Battle Companies with just a box of the plastic Warriors but this could be a good way to get a lot of options for starting out and growing your warbands potentially. You get some nice terrain though as well which is a bonus and will help fill out your tabletops for playing your games.
@@BecauseOfDragons hmm I am torn between this starter set or one of the battlehost sets to start a battle company.
@@tiredguy2753 If you've got a pal to split the big Osgiliath set with I'd say go for that - as long as you both want Gondor and Mordor. If you're doing it by yourself I'd say maybe the Battlehost as it's cheaper, comes with a bunch of options still AND can be played as it stands against any other Battlehost/comes with a neat character to lead them. Both give you a good grounding with your core plastic troops.
As I say, just one of the basic plastic boxes of 30 odd troops would also do the job but you'd need to buy separate sets to expand into of course. Hope this helps!
@@BecauseOfDragons Great advice ty
So is there actually a discount in buying this in the US?
Most of their starter sets offer up a discount on buying the kits separately but it depends on if you already have some Gondor/Mordor or if you're totally starting new. If you're starting from scratch with the game then i think it's a great box to pick up.
Having purchased this recently as a complete noob, I wish I had not spent the money. As a 'starter' kit, it fails, with many of the sculpts requiring assembly that is, to say the least, challenging for a beginner (can they really not cast the Rangers with their tiny heads attached?). To say nothing of the painting, which can be quite daunting for new people.
It is very frustrating to try to prepare an army and feel like I'm ruining it.
The newer plastic heroes are more challenging than the older miniatures in the set that is for sure. I would say that they did do a good job on the guides though, although I am coming at that from someone who has been playing for a few decades now. Best thing to do is just take is slowly and maybe dry fit the miniatures to begin with to make sure they go in the right place. When it comes to the painting, try and just do the best you can - no-one should judge you if you're just starting out and it's all a learning experience
Is it worth picking up 2 boxes?
I would say pick up one of these boxes and then if you want to expand, pick up the Minas Tirith and Mordor Battlehosts as they give you a good selection of miniatures and don't double anything up.
yeah picking them up now
How do you play this without having to flip through a bunch of books to look at different unit stats? That’s the one thing that keeps me away.
A lot of people will write an army roster so you don't have to flick back and forth all the time. Or, as I mentioned in another comment you could try this MESBG list builder which makes cards for you avcordaro.github.io/mesbg-list-builder/