Is the LOTR Skirmish Game any Good?

Has anybody tried it? Please tell me about it. What's it like compared to Mord?

You should ask for a comparison of Warhammer vs. LotR.

And Mordheim vs. Legends of the Old West/High Seas.

Mordheim uses the Warhammer rules and adds its own campaign rules. Legends uses the LotR rules and adds the Mordheim campaign rules (Heroes/Henchmen, Experience, Skills...) for campaign play.

As a skirmish game LOTR SBG is slick and well written but it has no campaign rules (hence the LotOW and LotHS rules copying Mordheim's campaign rules). Although I have a few issues with some of the basic rules (which I won't go in to now) it's actually quite a good game.

The local LotR players on the other hand...

hmm, gotta try it out them

Yes, I'll second that the Lord of the Rings Strategy Game (SBG) is an excellent system. There is no character growth, the way there is in Mordheim, but the rules are very stable and IMO the best of any of GW's "core" games.

It is also a highly adaptable ruleset - I've seen it used to recreate various other settings from historical warfare to sci-fi comicbook stuff.

I will note that, as a game in general, it's simpler than GW's other games. I'm sure that's part of why it's also so much more balanced, and it's still a lot of fun.

SBG is good for tiny skirmishes of a small handfull of models per side on up to decent sized battles, too.

I haven't played either Legends of the Old West or Legends of the High Seas yet, but I imagine that you could rather easily derive that campaign system into something workable for LotR. There's also "Battle Companies" which is free online (I believe), although I've never played it in depth. Battle Companies was an attempt on GW's part, released through WD articles initially, at making the "Mordheim" of LotR. You would start with a small force, but they could gain reputation and abilities as you went on.

what good things does it have that could be incorporated into mordheim?

Asp wrote:

what good things does it have that could be incorporated into mordheim?

That's a tough call, because the basic game is quite different. I have a hard time seeing how to introduce it to Mordheim piecemeal.

For starters, combat works differently. It's much closer to Necromunda in the sense that both sides roll off, and then the winner gets to strike blows.

Armor and Toughness are combined into the same stat, so if you're wearing more armor it simply requires a higher roll to wound, no armor saves or anything like that.

Skills and special rules are relatively rare, but do occur sometimes.

Also there's round order - the round is broken up into phases, but players alternate at the "phase" level rather than at the "turn" level. i.e. you're movement phase, then my movement phase, followed by your shooting phase, then my shooting phase, followed by one melee phase. We would roll off for priority at the beginning of every round.

There are also the "heroic characteristics," in the form of points that you spend. Might points allow you either to +/- 1 from a die roll, or to act out of turn (if you don't have priority) along with any friendly models within 6". Will points are used to cast spells. Fate points give you a 4+ save against a wound.

sounds pretty cool actaully

looking to get a mines of moria set and check it out

i think the prospect of combining armour and toughness is quite grand as it speeds up play. but of course some detail is lost.

and it would be hard to incorporate into mordheim too, i think.

if light armour would be +1 to wound, heavy armour +2 and shield +2 warriors would soon be unwoundable

Yeah, I don't think you could pick some bits of SBG to add to Mordheim. You'd be better off using the rules wholesale with the Mordheim background (and putting in the work on re-writing the warband lists and the experience tables!)

Not such a bad idea I actually....

so how does LOTR tackle Light Armour and Heavy Armour etc. making warriors impossible to wound?

Light armor adds 1, a shield adds 1, and heavy armor adds 2. However, the wound tables work a bit differently that typical GW:

If the target's defense is 4+ less than the attacker's strength, he's wounded on a 2+.
If the target's defense is 2-3 less than the attacker's strength, he's wounded on a 3+.
If the target's defense is 1 less or equal to the attacker's strength, he's wounded on a 4+.
If the target's defense is 1-2 higher than the attacker's strength, he's wounded on a 5+.
If the target's defense is 3-4 higher than the attacker's strength, he's wounded on a 6.
If the target's defense is 5-6 higher than the attacker's strength, he's wounded on a 6 and then a 4+.
If the target's defense is 7-8 higher than the attacker's strength, he's wounded on a 6 and then a 5+.

You'd never need a 6 and then another 6, because I don't think that scenario ever comes up (i.e. a difference of 9-10, or a strength 1 attack vs. a defense 10 opponent).

No one is ever impossible to wound, if I remember correctly. And although you often require a 5+ or 6+ to wound, this is balanced (statistically) with the lack of an armor save that other GW games have. Whereas it is much harder to wound someone in the first place, if you wound him then he's dead with no saving throw.

Mines of Moria is a great starter set, although the one thing that it doesn't give you is any kind of good army - just the fellowship. While it is a lot of fun to play Fellowship scenarios, it may be worthwhile to pick up a boxed set of one type of good warriors along with Mines of Moria so that you can play proper battles as well as scenarios.

Myntokk wrote:

Mines of Moria is a great starter set, although the one thing that it doesn't give you is any kind of good army - just the fellowship. While it is a lot of fun to play Fellowship scenarios, it may be worthwhile to pick up a boxed set of one type of good warriors along with Mines of Moria so that you can play proper battles as well as scenarios.

Dwarf would be a good choice, then you could re-fight the Moria invasion that took place before the Fellowship got there, using the Goblins and Troll in the box!

If you plan on using it for Mordheim though, just get a rulebook and save yourself some cash!

Dwarves would be a good choice - dwarves vs. goblins are such an iconic match-up, and you'd have Gimli as a hero to lead them.

Wood Elves would be a good choice too (thematically), since they frequently dealt with goblins from the mountains and you'd have Legolas.