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[[Image:Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game logo.png|frame]]'''The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game''' (abbreviated to LotR SBG or LOTRSBG) is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by [[Games Workshop]] and released in [[2001]]. It is based on ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy]]'' directed by [[Peter Jackson]] and [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
[[Image:Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game logo.png|frame]]'''The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game''' (abbreviated to LotR SBG or LOTRSBG) is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by [[Games Workshop]] and released in [[2001]]. It is based on [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] directed by [[Peter Jackson]] and [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.


==Development==
==Development==

Revision as of 16:48, 10 December 2012

Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game logo.png

The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game (abbreviated to LotR SBG or LOTRSBG) is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop and released in 2001. It is based on The Lord of the Rings (film series) directed by Peter Jackson and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Development

Background

In the 1980s, Games Workshop produced a range of miniatures for The Lord of the Rings, using original character designs based on fantasy art popular of the time.[1] This was the first range of Lord of the Rings miniatures that Citadel created, taking over from Grenadier Miniatures in 1985, before the license passed to Mithril Miniatures around 1987. The earliest releases were semi-solid base, having a small solid base; later releases were slot based.

Release

The game was initially released in 2001 to coincide in with the film The Fellowship of the Ring. New box sets with updated rules were also released for The Two Towers and The Return of the King films. Later, beginning with the Shadow & Flame supplement, Games Workshop began to add content that was featured in the original book but not in the film adaptations: eg. Tom Bombadil, Radagast and Glorfindel. Games Workshop has also expanded its license with original material on areas such as Harad and Khand, with mixed reactions. The most recent complete edition of the rules, The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game: Rulebook, was released by Games Workshop in September 2005, while a compact edition of the rules came with the Mines of Moria Boxed Set.

In early 2009 Games Workshop also released an expansion to the original game called War of the Ring which, according to the company, allows players to emulate the large battles included in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by streamlining the game system.

In addition to gaming, The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game includes other common elements of the miniature wargaming hobby. These include the collecting, painting and conversion of miniature figures used in play, as well as the modelling of gaming terrain from scratch. These aspects of the hobby are covered in Games Workshop's monthly White Dwarf, as well as formerly in the fortnightly Battle Games in Middle-earth.

Current licensing

The current Lord of the Rings range stems from Games Workshop's rights from Middle-earth Enterprises to produce a skirmish war game based on the films, and also on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books, in the 25mm miniature scale.[note 1] (The rights to produce a role playing game version of the films were sold to another firm, Decipher, Inc.) They also have the rights to produce a board game based on The Bohhit, called The Battle of Five Armies, using smaller miniatures to enact larger battles.[2]

Games Workshop has not acquired the rights to The Silmarillion, which is still the exclusive property of the Tolkien Estate, but has the right to develop its own derivative intellectual property to fill in the gaps in Tolkien's legendarium. This is particularly true of Harad, which has a range of invented places (such as "Kârna", "Badharkân", "Hidâr", "Nâfarat", "Abrakân", and "Dhâran-sar"[3]) and characters (such as the Hasharin[3] and "Dalamyr, Fleetmaster of Umbar"[4]).

Products

Books and magazines

See also White Dwarf

See Also

External links

Notes

  1. Note that these figures are 25 mm and not the 28 mm figures that are more popular today (Painting the Lord of the Rings Mines of Moria Game, accessed 17 July 2007).

References

Licensed miniatures figures for gaming in Middle-earth
  Grenadier Models Inc. (1985)
  Mithril Miniatures (1987-)
  Harlequin Miniatures (1990s)
  Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game (2001-)