The Quest of the Ringbearer supplement for the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game is nearly upon us. We sat down with the Warhammer Studio’s very own Ringbearer, Jay Clare, to gain a bit more insight as to what went into creating this new supplement.
Warhammer Community: So, how did Quest of the Ringbearer come about?
Jay: The last few Middle-earth supplements have each focused on a specific event or faction, but at its core, the story of The Lord of the Rings™ is about the journey to destroy the One Ring. The classic Journey Books* are fondly remembered by fans of the Strategy Battle Game, and so we wanted to capture that style of publication and write a supplement that follows the core story – the journey of Frodo Baggins from the Shire to Mount Doom – in its entirety.
WarCom: There’s a lot of stuff to cover then! How did you go about selecting the Narrative Scenarios?
Jay: Yeah, there is – Frodo goes through quite a lot! Essentially, what we wanted this supplement to be was the journey of the Ringbearer; if they’re not part of that, they’re not in Quest of the Ringbearer. What this allowed us to do was look at every aspect of Frodo’s journey, from both the books and the films, and determine which events would make suitable Scenarios.
All of the Scenarios you would expect are there, such as Weathertop, Balin’s Tomb, and Amon Hen. We also went back through the Battle Games in Middle-earth magazines from the early 2000s to find any Scenarios that would translate well into the current edition of the rules. Those who collected Battle Games in Middle-earth will recognise Scenarios such as Cirith Ungol and The End of All Things as originally being from the magazine, reworked to best capture the events and stories they are telling.
We also took the opportunity to create some brand-new Scenarios looking at events that hadn’t been covered before. Scenarios such as Nazgûl in Bree and Plateau of Gorgoroth allow you to play through these events for the first time. There is also a mini-game for the Pass of Caradhras!
WarCom: Which of the Narrative Scenarios is your favourite?
Jay: I’ve always been a fan of the smaller Scenarios using fewer models. Each character feels so much more important. As such, I really like Scenarios such as The Taming of Sméagol, Fog on the Barrow-downs, and The Dead Marshes.
If I had to pick just one then it would have to be Farmer Maggot’s Crop. It’s such a different Scenario in that it isn’t about the fate of Middle-earth. Rather, the four Hobbits are just looking to pinch the odd bunch of carrots, some potatoes, or (their favourite) mushrooms, and Maggot is simply trying to protect his crops. In fact, Frodo and his companions actually count as the Evil side in this Scenario. Obviously they’re not actually evil – but they are stealing from Farmer Maggot, which is a tad on the naughty side!
WarCom: There are a few new profiles in Quest of the Ringbearer – what was it that led to their inclusion?
Jay: When going through the events surrounding Frodo’s journey, we found a few characters that aided him on his quest who hadn’t yet had profiles for the Strategy Battle Game. Anborn and Mablung were two Rangers under the command of Faramir in Ithilien in the books. Unlike Damrod and Madril, they’ve never had profiles. We wanted to rectify this, giving these characters from the books their time to shine, whilst adding some flavourful and interesting new rules to the Rangers of Ithilien and Minas Tirith army lists.
The other two characters proved a lot of fun to write – Harry Goatleaf, the gatekeeper of Bree, and the jolly, yet forgetful, Barliman Butterbur! Both of these characters feature in the Nazgûl in Bree Scenario, but are also classed as Wanderers in the Wild for Matched Play. They can be used in many army lists, though both thrive when taken alongside the Fellowship, particularly Barliman Butterbur. Harry Goatleaf can also be taken as an Evil model in the Sharkey’s Rogues army list or The Chief’s Ruffians Legendary Legion – after all, he does side with Saruman in the books.
WarCom: There seems to be more of an onus on Legendary Legions than profiles this time around. What made you focus on these?
Jay: As the focus of Quest of the Ringbearer was on Frodo’s journey, we realised that most of the characters involved already had profiles. This allowed us to look at creating even more Legendary Legions, including some which players have been clamouring for since we introduced the concept back in Gondor at War.
In Quest of the Ringbearer, we were able to create some Legendary Legions which hadn’t fitted into any of the previous supplements. The Breaking of the Fellowship is a great army list that gives each of the members of the Fellowship their gifts from Galadriel. The Depths of Moria provides some extra rules for the fearsome Balrog, making it the truly terrifying monster we see in the films. Lurtz has long been a fan-favourite character, and now he has his own Legendary Legion focusing around the scouting force he uses to track the Fellowship. Cirith Ungol combines Orcs, Mordor Uruk-hai, and the hideous Shelob to form a potent force.
However, my personal favourite is the Black Riders. I love this Legendary Legion, comprised of the Witch-king and the Ringwraiths – it has so many tricks up its sleeves. Each Ringwraith can unleash the terrifying screech of the Nazgûl, and they’re also even more frightening when there are more of them around. I can’t wait to get this force on the tabletop!
WarCom: What are you most proud of with Quest of the Ringbearer?
Jay: Probably the reintroduction of Fantasy Fellowship, which was originally a series of White Dwarf articles. Being able to put together your own Fellowship with your favourite characters has always been popular with fans. We’ve gone one step further with this as well, providing a full campaign for gamers to play through to see if their Fellowship has what it takes to destroy the Ring!
Thanks, Jay! Quest of the Ringbearer will be available to pre-order this weekend. Start putting together your Fantasy Fellowship now from the Middle-earth model range.
* A trilogy of books released for a previous edition of the game which followed the events of The Fellowship of the Ring™, The Two Towers™ and The Return of the King™ across dozens of linked Scenarios.