Lord of The Rings – Battle of Edoras Review - Horses and Pitchforks

The clash of swords, the thunderous pounding of horses’ hooves - these of the sounds of war in the world of Lord of the Rings. And now, Games Workshop’s releasing a brand new Starter Set for their miniature wargame set in Tolkien’s universe (the Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game). Following the story of the upcoming animated feature film, GW sent along a copy for me to review - so check out my thoughts on this epic, massive box in my The Lord of The Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – Battle of Edoras review.

What’s Included in the Battle of Edoras Box?

Battle of Edoras as a Starter Set truly does contain just about everything you need to begin your journey. The official contents are:

• Haleth, Prince of Rohan - mounted and on foot
• Háma, Prince of Rohan - mounted and on foot
• 24 Rohan Warriors
• Wulf, High Lord of the Hill Tribes - mounted and on foot 
• General Targg - mounted and on foot
• 24 Hill Tribesmen
• Two Rohan Houses
• The full hardcover 176-page rules manual
• 48-page scenario and profiles booklet
• Double-sided 3’x3’ playmat, two reference guides, a range ruler, and 12 dice

As you can see, this is a truly robust starter set, which you'd expect to see for its $220 USD MSRP. Now let's get into the box contents, the new rules of the game, and more!

How Does It Play/New Rules

The official article breaking down many of the larger changes to the new set should serve as a go-to resource for tracking everything this new edition brings, but to quickly run through the details:

New Profiles Break Things Up, Simplify

Each and every character and unit in the game has undergone a significant change to their profiles. Some of these changes include new and different abilities, special gear, etc., while other changes are foundational to the very construction of the profile itself.

For instance, Courage is now a target number to beat, vs. a static ability. And the Shoot Value and Fight Value have been broke up into their own categories, which all just serve to simplify the process. In my opinion, Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game has always been on the crunchier side of things - and there are still charts to consult based on the strength of weapons, etc. - but the changes here do hint at making the game more approachable.

Intelligence Hints At Narrative Moments

There’s a new stat on the profile of all units and characters: the Intelligence stat! This stat feels like a flexible stat that can be used in a variety of ways throughout the gameplay. For instance, the rulebook presents two opportunities: in one, a character is trying to free a relic from the ground and must pass an Intelligence check. In the other, Frodo’s been attacked by a special power from the Nazgul that forces him to make an Intelligence test to avoid being affected by it.

Here’s why I love this new addition, I think it truly does a lot of work to add the potential for narrative moments into the game. For a wargame based on some of the best storytelling of the twentieth century, it can sometimes feel like - aside from warriors squaring off 1v1 - it’s light on narrative touches. But now, with Intelligence, there’s so much open room in abilities, narrative play scenarios, and more to add even more storytelling moments and flourishes.

Beyond these two major changes, there are small tweaks and what I would call “quality of life improvements” to be found across the ruleset. Nothing here is earthshakingly different from the previous edition, but it feels very tightened up and tidy.

The Models Included In The Battle for Edoras Box

At this point - fair warning - there might be some slight spoilers for The War of the Rohirrim - at least in the fact that character’s crucial to the film will be discussed here. Nothing major, but worth shouting out. 

The models included in the box feel very evenly balanced against one another, with all four good and evil heroes shining in their own light. To start, there’s Haleth, Prince of Rohan. He’s a strong fighter with three attacks, and comes mounted on an armored horse, and his special ability allows him to re-roll failed Wound rolls when he’s outnumbered.

Next up is Haleth’s brother, Háma, Prince of Rohan. He’s equipped with a bow, hand weapons, and is an expert rider on his mount. Though he only has two attacks, his special ability allows him to spend Will Points to allow nearby Rohan warriors to re-roll Wound Rolls of 1.

On the evil side, there’s Wulf, High Lord of the Hill Tribes, who is also a strong fighter with three attacks, comes mounted, and can re-roll a single D6 during the duel roll (and must re-roll To Wound Rolls of natural 1 against an enemy Hero).

Alongside him is General Targg, a strong fighter with the Master of Battle ability (which lets him copy another friendly hero’s Heroic Action on a roll of 4+), and a more strategic ability that allows other friendly Dunland Warrior models near him to re-roll To Wound rolls of 1 if you’ve given priority to your opponent.

The additional Rohan Warriors and Hill Tribesman are also fun, if standard, additions to the kit - and make up the great bulk of the forces. Rohan has armor, and the Hill Tribesman can bring flaming brands (which are pretty potent weapons with the Terror (Cavalry) and Terror (Beast) abilities). Overall, as you might expect, the Rohan Warriors have slightly better defense, and they also have a better Intelligence Score.

The Look of the Models of Battle of Edoras

The models included in this set all look really nice. While the Rohan Warriors are fairly standard in terms of their design and sculpt, I like the look of them all on foot. When I get these painted up in their traditional Rohan colors, I think they’re really going to stand out with their uniform design and long, pointed spears.

Contrasting them nicely is the chaotic look of the Hill Tribesman. With burning brands, pitchforks, and other improvised weapons, and with all of their models sculpted to look like they’re mid-run, there’s a kind of wild energy to these models that I really like.

Constructing these models, and the Rohan houses included in the kit, is a bit finicky. That’s my biggest (and really only) complaint with this set - there’s so much gluing of tiny pieces - in a way that feels a little outdated. I shouldn’t have to glue the front of a models face to the back of their head in the year of our Ilúvatar 2024.

Special Note: Easy Rohan Terrain Perfect for Battle of Edoras

I also wanted to take a moment here before the end of the review to make a special callout for one of my all-time favorite terrain solutions, Battle Systems Fantasy Terrain, because it fits so perfectly with the look, feel, and theme of Lord of the Rings and War of the Rohirim. This hard cardboard terrain, which comes pre-printed with lush imagery, snaps together easily, is highly modular, and takes a fraction of the time to set up.

Whenever I’m playing a skirmish wargame like MeSBG, Frostgrave, and Warcry, etc. I’m almost always reaching for this terrain vs. heavier plastic options. And while the terrain you see in my photos is from the Fantasy Village and Ruined Settlement kits, the set that really would be a one-to-one match for Rohan is the Northern Settlement set, which TechRaptor’s own Adam Potts reviewed a few years back.

These pieces are obviously not part of this Starter Set (which comes with sprues for two Rohan Houses - I’ve only built the one so far), but I thought they deserved a callout here for anyone interested in getting into War of the Rohirrim.

The Lord of The Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – Battle of Edoras - Final Thoughts

There’s no other way of putting it - this Starter Kit is a masterpiece and a must-have for newcomers hoping to get into Games Workshop’s Lord of the Rings miniature game. Battle of Edoras is such a hugely robust kit, with over fifty models, to large buildings, the entire core rulebook in hardcover, and more.

The gameplay has been nicely streamlined in ways, though this still isn’t even as simple as Age of Sigmar (which of course has its own moments of crunchiness). So while brand new newcomers to wargaming might feel a bit stumped by the ruleset here and the intricacy of constructing these models, anyone familiar with wargaming at all will fall right in with this Starter Set.

The copy of The Lord of The Rings: The War of the Rohirrim – Battle of Edoras used in this review was provided by Games Workshop.