So, you’ve decided you might want to or have started on your Hobbit SBG hobby journey. You’ve got a few models or want to pick some up, but where do you start? It can be a bit confusing. But don’t be alarmed. Here I hope you will find some good tips for a hobbyist starting out.
1. Join the Hobbit SBG Forums
This is one of the most important steps to take, in my opinion. Joining forums such as the One Ring opens a door to the entire repository of SBG-related knowledge in existence. Want help with tactics? The Army Help forum is your best friend. Beginner’s rules questions? Posting a query on the aptly named ‘Beginners’ forum will get you a quick answer from another member of the community. I’ve found that just getting involved in online discussion about the hobby helps me to keep myself interested. The forums are also invaluable for finding people to play against and you’ll almost certainly find or be directed towards groups in your country/local area that you can get involved with, such as the Great British Hobbit League. You certainly won’t regret joining up. The link to The One Ring, probably the most used forum, is here: http://www.one-ring.co.uk/
2: Watch the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films and read the books
There are so many times that I’ve been left pondering over which models I want to buy, or just been stuck on what to include in an army. You know what I like to do here? Watch the films and read the books that (most of) this hobby and models came from. No one can deny that there are some really iconic scenes and awesome heroes in Middle-Earth and recreating these on the table-top is a great, very fun way of starting out with the hobby, especially if you’re playing against like-minded people. I’ve always found one of the best things about the hobby is still the rich world that Tolkien built, and even some of the expansions by Games Workshop are pretty cool as well. After playing the game for a while you can then start exploring other, less prominent factions such as the Grey Company (my personal favourite), which will add another layer of enjoyment to the whole experience.
3: Buy figures that you want to paint, not just the competitive option
This is one that I didn’t fully appreciate when I started out, but looking back it makes perfect sense. If I try to estimate the amount of hours I’ve sunk into the hobby over several years, the amount of time I’ve spent painting and assembling figures massively dwarfs the amount of time I’ve spent using them in games. So if you buy armies from a purely competitive standpoint, I don’t think you’ll get as much out of them as you should. Instead, I feel that you should always seriously consider how much enjoyment you’ll be able to derive from painting a force and seeing it displayed. Look at the aesthetics, theme/background and possible paint schemes you could use first of all. If you want to play the game, as you surely do if you’re reading this, the in-game quality of a model is very important and should definitely be considered, don’t get me wrong, but try to keep your thoughts in proportion. Don’t just buy models for their profiles, as you then won’t have the motivation to paint them and use them; in my eyes, characters and models you love looking at are always more fun to use in games anyway, so you’ve got everything to gain.
4: Get involved in a gaming group
I’m now going to destroy my previous point. Brilliant. Jokes aside, using your models in games is great fun and building competitive lists is actually more fun and interesting than it may seem. But all your theorising will be for naught if you can’t use your intricately-crafted lists in a game. Spending lots of time painting is great fun, but it is my firm opinion that Games Workshop’s prices are too high for just buying that. Let me explain: if you’re buying a box of 12 models for £15 or a Finecast hero for £15 (or even £27 in the case of the Battle of the Five Armies releases) you naturally want to get the most out of your purchase that you can. That’s just logical, surely. So if you can’t find an opponent you’re missing out on the second dimension of the hobby that helps makes it worth your investment of time and cash; if I only wanted to paint models I probably wouldn’t be involved in this hobby, or at least I wouldn’t have conventional armies. The models are very nice but I just don’t think it would be worth the cash, even if you’re buying them out of disposable income from a salary. So I feel it’s important to do your best to get involved in a local gaming group; you can get the most out of your collection. It’s also just a really nice way to get out and meet new people and make friends easily: after all, you’ve got a shared interest. So if you’re thinking about getting into the hobby I recommend you do some research on gaming clubs in your area, the larger the better, as then there’ll be more variety in your games.
5: Don’t be intimidated by the start-up cost, start small
This hobby is time-consuming and can get expensive. That’s just a fact, it’s a commitment. And so understandably it can be a bit scary for someone starting out or re-starting after some time away. You might think ‘wow, that’s going to take a lot of time and cash, I might look elsewhere for a hobby’, but please don’t let this put you off. Start small; set yourself small goals like ‘I’m going to paint one miniature a week’ or something like that. If you’re going to be a bit short of time in the next few weeks, give yourself a longer time period. Simple, achievable targets like that can help you build up your confidence in being able to keep a good turnover of painted figures going. Another good thing to do is to play scenarios from the main rulebook/sourcebooks/journeybooks. These generally don’t require too many figures to play and are good for learning the rules with. There are also options to play a campaign with these scenarios, which can help newer players become more invested in their games. In terms of products to buy I would recommend the Escape from Goblin Town starter set and as many of the sourcebooks as you can get your hands on (you may have to use eBay for the books): the starter set gives you two instantly usable armies which include some iconic characters from the Hobbit films, a small, easy to transport rulebook and some terrain: everything you need for your first, small games of the Hobbit. The sourcebooks are good because you can have a look at the older Lord of the Rings armies available and get an idea of what you may have to play against in future. Once you’ve exhausted the scenarios, my advice would be to move on to 350 point games, then 500 point games. These don’t require huge numbers of models and are still very exciting.
6: Trust in eBay and in the Trade groups
In this hobby, eBay and other collectors are gold mines. Plenty of the original range of Lord of the Rings figures (and a couple of Hobbit ones) are now no longer in production and so can be a bit difficult to source. But do not fear, for the host of community members wishing to flog their old models for cash is a numberless one. Obviously older and rarer figures will be more difficult and expensive to source, but buying in-production and common out-of-production figures is pretty easy and you can buy them for much less than Games Workshop may charge you for them. So apply to join the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trade Group (link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/623575357711575/) after you’ve joined the GBHL (see my next point) to make it that bit easier to buy the models you want for a bit less. The group is well regulated and it’s very unlikely that you’ll have any issues. Similarly, single figures and sometimes whole armies of factions such as Minas Tirith and Rohan are sold for a pittance on eBay, so make sure you scout around there. I’ve bought several quite rare out of production models for very good prices there, you never know what might pop up.
7: Join the GBHL Facebook Group and subscribe to their YouTube Channel!
The GBHL (Great British Hobbit League) do some sterling work in running the tournament scene in Great Britain and does a huge amount to bring together the Hobbit SBG community of Great Britain and a few players from further afield. They also regularly post excellent videos on their YouTube Channel, such as their Q&A show (‘Speak Friend and Question’) and Battle Reports. I thoroughly recommend subscribing to their channel and watching their videos, they’re both highly entertaining and very helpful to hobbyists. For those of you that would prefer something from across the pond, the DC Hobbit League (in Washington D.C, funnily enough) also produces some brilliant videos on similar subjects. Or just watch both! The GBHL Facebook group is also a good way to arrange games and get help from other hobbyists quickly on anything from painting techniques to army lists. So get on it! GBHL YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gbhl, GBHL Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/472128942815892/?fref=nf, DCHL YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Eja6Xn-KtSXeAyLyTpJsA
So, those are some of my thoughts on things to bear in mind when starting out with the hobby, but what do you all think? Anything major that I’ve missed out, or anything you want me to go into more detail on? Most importantly, was reading all of this actually worth your time? Leave a comment below! Thanks for reading everyone and have a nice day.
The Hobbit Strategy Battle Guide 