One Rules Manual to rule them all…
With mere hours to go until The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Strategy Battle Game is released into the waiting world, there's a real excitement building up. Last night at my local gaming club, I spent quite a long time chatting about the latest edition of the Strategy Battle Game, and what it means for my friends and their collections. One of the questions I was asked was "Is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey a complete reboot of the Strategy Battle Game?" My answer was short and sweet - yes, absolutely, it's the latest edition of the rules for the Strategy Battle Game.
At its heart, it's the same game that many hobbyists already know and love - if you've played The Lord of the Rings: Strategy Battle Game, you'll be familiar with many of the rules and ideas in the new game - but there's plenty of new challenges inside for even the most veteran player. Here's what the rules manual contains:
New, updated and revised rules. Battle across Middle-earth with the latest edition of the Strategy Battle Game. Monsters are more powerful than ever, magic has more nuance and trickery and weapons are more varied.
Profiles and rules for the new The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey miniatures. From Thorin and Company to The Trolls, the White Council or the Fell Wargs, here's where you will find how to use them in your games.
Scenarios: Seven specially written scenarios enable you to recreate the adventures from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with your collection. Each has a detailed description and guidelines to help you live the adventures from the movie on the tabletop.
Armies. Want to use your collection to fight battles with your friends? The Rules Manual contains a detailed guide on how to organise your collection of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey miniatures and use them in a Points Match battle.
Another friend (who shall remain nameless, Kenny) asked what this all meant for his existing collection of The Lord of the Rings miniatures. The answer to that is simple. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual is completely compatible with the models and sourcebooks already released for The Lord of the Rings. Simply pick up the new The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey rules manual, learn the new rules and figure out the tactics, and you are ready for war!
This means that you can play with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey miniatures alongside your The Lord of the Rings collection - in fact, I'm quite looking forward to mashing my friend Ben's Elves with The Trolls. As you get stuck into the new edition of the rules, you'll soon find that you'll have new ploys at your disposal, and new battle plans to unleash. And yes, in answer to your other question Kenny, the Balrog really is more terrifying and deadly than ever before...
