Jay: Quest of the Ringbearer follows the epic journey of Frodo Baggins in his mission to destroy the One Ring, which is at the real heart of the story. Many fans of the Strategy Battle Game have fond memories of the classic The Lord of the Rings™ Journeybooks from yesteryear, and Quest of the Ringbearer emulates those supplements. It’s packed with Scenarios, profiles, and Legendary Legions designed to help bring Frodo’s epic, action-packed journey to life.
Scenarios
Quest of the Ringbearer features a whopping 28 Narrative Scenarios, and there has been much speculation about which events these Scenarios cover. Well, I can happily tell you that, starting with the antics of the four Hobbits in Farmer Maggot’s fields, there’s a Scenario to represent every single major event in Frodo’s quest to Mount Doom.
All of the Scenarios you’d expect make their return – Balin’s Tomb, Amon Hen, Osgiliath, and
’s Lair are all presented in Quest of the Ringbearer. Even Scenarios such as Cirith Ungol and The End of All Things, originally published in the Battle Games in Middle-earth magazine almost 20 years ago, have been reimagined to work with the current edition of the Strategy Battle Game whilst remaining faithful to the originals.
Events such as The Pass of Caradhras and The Taming of Sméagol have been represented by a mini-game, and there’s also a never-before-seen Scenario written to represent Frodo and Sam crossing the Plateau of Gorgoroth.
Campaign
Of course, the Scenarios wouldn’t feel like a journey if there wasn’t a way of linking them together. Fear not, as there’s an in-depth campaign system to link every Scenario together, allowing you to recreate Frodo’s quest from start to finish. Each Scenario has its own campaign bonus, meaning that the result of one scenario will have an impact on the next. There are also rules for recovering the strength of Frodo and his allies, showcasing the toll taken upon the Fellowship by each new struggle they face.
New Profiles
It’s not just Scenarios within this supplement, though. There are also four new profiles to represent some of the additional characters who aid Frodo in his quest and who’ve never had profiles before.
Anborn and Mablung are Rangers under the command of Faramir, and can be taken as part of the Minas Tirith army list or the Rangers of Ithilien Legendary Legion. Each of them is a Minor Hero and has their own bespoke special rule. Anborn is an exceptionally skilled archer who can spend a free point of Might each turn for either a To Hit, To Wound, or In The Way roll when making a shooting attack. Mablung, on the other hand, uses bird calls to locate hidden enemies as well as give nearby allies the Stalk Unseen special rule.
The other two profiles represent two Wanderers in the Wild – Barliman Butterbur and Harry Goatleaf. We won’t go into detail about what they can do just yet – we need to leave you with some surprises, right?
Legendary Legions
For Matched Play enthusiasts like myself, there are six Legendary Legions featured in Quest of the Ringbearer. First up, the Rangers of Ithilien list, which was first published in Gondor at War, gets an update to account for the two new Heroes it can now take.
There are then five new Legendary Legions for players to get their teeth stuck into. The Breaking of the Fellowship showcases the Fellowship following their departure from Lothlórien. Naturally, Gandalf cannot be taken (the Balrog made sure of that!), but each other member receives a gift from Galadriel which they can use in the game.
Meanwhile, Lurtz’s Scouts is a list that focuses solely on the scouting Uruk-hai at Amon Hen, led by the fearsome Lurtz himself. Depths of Moria is a Legendary Legion built around the terrifying presence of the Balrog and the Moria Goblins that the Fellowship are forced to flee from. Cirith Ungol is an unusual list, made up of the Orcs and Uruk-hai that garrisoned the fortress, and makes use of their disdain for each other on the battlefield. They may even have their own eight-legged ‘ally’ as well…
The last Legendary Legion is my personal favourite: The Black Riders. Finally, players who have yearned to play as the nine Nazgûl on horseback as they scour Middle-earth in search for the Ringbearer, can do so in their Matched Play games, and unleash the chilling screech of the Nazgûl upon their enemies!
Fantasy Fellowship
Fans of White Dwarf magazine may remember a series of articles where you could gather together your own Fellowship of your favourite Heroes and take them on the quest to destroy the One Ring. Well, it’s back!
Quest of the Ringbearer provides full rules for running your own Fantasy Fellowship campaign, including how to build your Fellowship, which scenarios to play, and how your Fellowship develops over the course of the campaign. When we decided to write Quest of the Ringbearer, this was one of the things we knew we wanted to include, and we hope that gaming groups across the globe get as much fun and use out of this as they did when it was first featured in White Dwarf!
Thanks, Jay! Well, it certainly looks like there’s loads of exciting content crammed into Quest of the Ringbearer. The new supplement will be available to pre-order soon, so keep your eyes peeled to get all the latest details! In the meantime, grab yourself a Fellowship of the Ring so you’re ready to begin this epic quest!