New Battlehosts Spotted For The Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

Games Workshop are making it easier to get stuck into the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game with a selection of three new Battlehost sets which cover the period of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Middle-earth Battlehosts // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

These Battlehosts act as a good starting point for someone wanting to dive into the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game but also bolster an existing collection. We start with a Battlehost for the forces of Rohan who are riding forth to protect their home against the encroaching forces of Saruman.

Rohan Battlehost // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

This Rohan Battlehost is led by Théoden and features six of his Riders of Rohan alongside twenty-four Warriors of Rohan. This includes a great mixture of the new (and relatively new) plastic miniatures that were released for the new edition of the game. The miniature for Théoden will be familiar to those who picked up the old Battle Of Pelennor Fields set.

The new plastic kits continue the tradition of Middle-earth sets in that they come with plenty of different weapon options like spears, bows and hand weapons so you can make a balanced warband.

The Hobbit

If you'd prefer to take a step back in time to The Hobbit, then you have two options to choose from here too.

Mirkwood Battlehost // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

Defend the Woodland Realm from nefarious and evil forces with Legolas and Tauriel. They make a great pair for you to use in your games, lightning-fast and great with both their bows and their swords when up close and personal.

Supporting them are twenty Mirkwood Rangers and twenty Palace Guard. The Palace Guard can hold the line and secure your objectives whilst the Mirkwood Rangers harass your enemies from afar. Whilst I'm not a massive fan of the aesthetic of The Hobbit movies, I do think the Mirkwood Rangers might just be one of the best Middle-earth plastic kits out there. I think the poses and details are absolutely spot on, which is probably why they end up being used in so many other games.

Just forget the weird Elf/Dwarf love story from the movies and play Tauriel as the badass she was meant to be!

If you'd like to play out a clash between Mirkwood and the forces of Dol Guldur, then you've got a great Battlehost set to partner with it.

Dol Guldur Battlehost // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

This set is led by the new plastic miniature for Bolg, Spawn of Azog. He comes on foot and mounted atop one of his fearsome Fell Wargs. You can have him racing across the battlefield with six more Fell Wargs and their Hunter Orc riders. Backing them up are twenty-four Hunter Orcs on foot who can slink through the shadows and cause all sorts of mischief.

This could be a good set of miniatures for putting together a fight based around the barrel-riding sequence or perhaps later in the movies when the Orcs attack Lake-town.

All three of these Battlehosts will be available to pre-order soon alongside free rules which you can use alongside the free Quickstart Rules Guide. A good way for you to try out Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game without diving in too deep!

It should also be noted that all of these miniatures are plastic, so you're not diving into a game and having to worry about working with resin and such!

As a fan of Middle-earth, it's great to see these and hopefully it will introduce more people to the game. I hope we get more new miniatures in the near future too!

Which Battlehost do you prefer?