Middle-earth™ Strategy Battle Game – Key changes in the new edition

The new edition of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game is nearly here, and we’re kicking things off in royal style with The War of the Rohirrim™: Battle of Edoras boxed set. As with any new edition, the Design Studio have made a number of rules changes and additions to ensure that gameplay is as smooth and exciting as possible.

We caught up with the lead developer to get the lowdown on the biggest and most exciting changes you can expect from the shiny new edition of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game.

Working on a new edition is always an exciting and challenging task. We spent countless hours poring over the current edition of the game, assessing every aspect, analysing what could be improved, and reading through feedback from the community to ensure that what we were doing was in line with what the fans wanted. The new edition will certainly play like the game we all know and love, and it builds on the solid foundation of previous editions to bring you what we believe to be the best edition of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game ever.

We are avid fans of both the game and the wider world of Middle-earth, and we have spent a great deal of time shaping the new edition to incorporate as much of your feedback as we can.

With that said, let’s have a look at some of the key changes.

Reworked profiles

Every single profile in the Strategy Battle Game has been reworked – yes, every single one. Some have had very minor changes, while others have had a complete overhaul. The aim here has been to make each character or warrior feel closer to how they appear in the movies and the books. Many of the original characters lacked the kinds of special rules that more modern releases gained, and so we have taken this opportunity to give such characters their own special rules to help them better reflect how they appear on screen. 

Let’s have a look at Aragorn.

There are a lot of things here that will immediately jump out to veterans of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game. 

The first will be the characteristics. Fight Value and Shoot Value have been separated to make them more distinct. Courage is now presented as a target number, rather than a given value. This doesn’t actually change much; it is still a 2d6 roll, but now instead of adding your Courage to the roll, you simply have to equal or beat the target number shown. In the previous edition, miniatures with Courage 6 (such as Aragorn) are likely to be Courage 4+. There is also a new characteristic – Intelligence, marked I.

The second thing you’ll notice is that a model’s keywords are presented differently, divided into three sections denoting the model’s Race, Faction and Unit Type. Some models may have multiple keywords in each section, depending on their character. Base size is also listed here, removing any confusion for players. 

Aragorn has had a lovely bump in his Fight Value, going from 6 to 7. In this edition we have redistributed Fight Values, something that fans have been asking about for a long time. There were a lot of models in the 3-6 range, making it quite congested. And while it still caps at 10, we have taken the opportunity to spread out the Fight Values in that 3-6 range, and even a few beyond. Profiles that would have been considered to be at the ‘top of Fight Value 3’ will be bumped up to Fight Value 4, and those at the ‘top of Fight Value 4’ will see themselves bumped up to Fight Value 5, and so on.

We have also looked at the wargear each character has in the movies and the books, and we have tried to incorporate signature gear into their rules. Aragorn has two such examples – the Ring of Barahir and his horse, Brego – one of many named mounts that get their own rules in the new edition. 

Now let’s have a look at a Warrior.

Much of the above applies here as well; we see the model’s keywords and base size listed, and the Warriors of Minas Tirith are also getting a nice improvement in their Fight Value. 

Perhaps the main thing to point out here is the way Warriors now select their wargear. The list of wargear options is presented similarly to previous editions, but a Warrior may now only select a single option from the list at the given points cost. Some Warriors may choose to not take any options, while others – like this Warrior of Minas Tirith – must select an option from the list provided. This has been done to ensure all models accurately represent the wargear they may carry, and so that there is no confusion mid-game. When a player looks at a model, they should be able to tell exactly what wargear the model has. 

Intelligence characteristic

A model’s Intelligence characteristic denotes how smart or cunning they are, and at times during a game, a model may be required to take an Intelligence Test. This works in much the same way as a Courage Test, so you will roll 2d6 and need to equal or beat the target number shown. 

Some special rules, such as trying to spot an Invisible Ringbearer, will require models to take an Intelligence Test, and Monsters will need to do so when they make a Hurl Brutal Power Attack to see where they can throw their target – these are just two examples of interactions in the game.

Priority roll

Perhaps the biggest change in this edition of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game is to the Priority Roll. Previously, whoever won the Priority Roll automatically had Priority that turn, but winning that roll sometimes felt like losing, as going first could be detrimental to your plans. Now, if you win the Priority Roll, you may choose to take Priority – or to give it to your opponent! 

This immediately makes winning this roll far more important, and deciding whether to take Priority or whether to give it to your opponent during key parts of the battle will make for all kinds of crucial and interesting tactical decisions. 

Clearer, more consistent wording

In this edition we have decided to rewrite everything from the ground up, ensuring that the wording for rules is simpler where possible, providing more diagrams and examples, and making sure to use consistent rules terminology throughout. 

This doesn’t mean that rules have completely changed, just that the way they are presented has changed to add further clarity in many areas of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual. 

For example, during the Move Phase you will Activate each of your models in turn, during which they will be able to Move and do anything else their rules permit them to do during their Activation. While this wording is new to Middle-earth, it is fundamentally mechanically the same. Moving to clearer and better-defined wording allows us to provide greater clarity and more in-depth timing steps for when rules take place – something that will only improve your experience. 

Other tweaks 

There are various other changes, too. Some unit types, such as War Beasts and Chariots, have their own sections making the rules clearer. Matched Play Scenarios have been rebalanced to all go up to 20 Victory Points for a greater spread of scores. There have been improvements to many of the Brutal Power Attacks, Magical Powers and special rules found within the game – as well as a few new ones such as the Dominant (X) special rule. 

Come back later in the week when we’ll break down how army building works in the new edition. We may even show a few teasers of some of the Army Lists …