About Middle Earth SBG
Middle Earth SBG (Strategy Battle Game) is a wargame by Games Workshop first released in November 2001. It is based on the New Line Cinema Lord of the Rings movies, and later the Warner Bros. Hobbit Movies. Games Workshop also acquired the licence to include things from the Lord of the Rings books so could include things in the game that the movies left out.
There are five distinct versions of the game.
First Edition (Movie Editions)
This was released in three volumes in as many years starting in November 2001, each covering the movie released that year. The newer book expanded upon the previous years books.
Second Edition (The One Ring Book)
All three rulebooks were collated, updated and refined and released as a single hardback book so called the One Ring Book due to the image on the cover and released in 2005
Third Edition (The Hobbit SBG)
The third era was a bit of a miss to be honest, coming out in November 2012. It tried to do the same as the Lord of the Rings edition with a rulebook being released with each movie but GW seemed to lose interest in the product and each book got thinner and thinner 'till the Battle of Five Armies was nothing more than a pamphlet.
The game was re-branded to The Hobbit SBG
They later tried to rectify this by releasing an updated hardback called There and Back again that contained and expanded upon the Desolation of Smaug and Battle of Five Armies
At least the new rule additions where good.
Fourth Edition (Middle Earth SBG)
In 2018 GW seemed to be somewhat interested in the game again. The game was re-branded to Middle Earth SBG. Unfortunately though the miniatures were split between GW and Forgeworld. This means more expense and more postage as you can not by GW minis when trying to order FW ones and visa versa. Oh well, at least we have something.
Fifth Edition (War of the Rohirrim)
With the advent of the animated movie comes a new version of the game with new Rohan Sculpts and Hillmen plastics. All quite exciting, but only time will tell if GW get bored with it again like all the versions above. They start strong but end of a whimper. 5th times the charm?
