Middle-earth™ FAQ – Designer’s commentary on the new edition

The latest designer’s commentary is here –  we caught up with the Middle-earth team to get the lowdown on the new edition, and to discuss the clarifications and errata being introduced this month.

The new edition has been in the hands of players for a little over eight months now, and players across the globe are getting into the swing of things, honing their armies, adapting their tactics, and trying as many of the new army lists as they can! These first few months have been particularly exciting for us in the design team, as fans have discovered the many intricacies of the various characters and armies. 

With the edition still very much in its infancy – and with Armies of Middle-earth and the Middle-earth Matched Play Guide only a couple of months old – the focus of this designer’s commentary is very much to clear up any confusion players are having with these new rules, and to correct any errors that may have been discovered. 

There are no balance updates in this designer’s commentary as, simply put, there just isn’t enough data on the state of the game to begin to make those sorts of changes. 

Rules clarifications

We have answered a number of questions sent in by the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game community, to put an end to certain confusion cropping up at events or gaming weekends. 

There are answers for the most common questions such as ‘If a King of Men has the Rohan keyword, can they include Rohirrim Traitors in their Warband?’ (no), and ‘can Saruman use his Might Points to improve To Wound rolls for Conjure Lightning?’ (also no).

More niche situations include: ‘If a Cavalry model has the Spectral Walk special rule, do they still gain their charge bonuses when charging in Difficult Terrain?’ (yes), and ‘How do models treat the Three Trolls’ campfire for the purposes of moving?’ (it’s a big fire, they can’t go in it!).

Errata

We have also taken the opportunity to correct some errors that crept into the final print of the publications, and to add an additional line here and there to give greater context or clarity. 

We’ve reduced the cost of Ringwraiths specifically in the Black Riders army list in order to allow all nine of them to be fielded at 1,000 points. We’ve also tweaked the wording in the Moria army list which now clarifies that Beast Warrior models can only be included in Drûzhag’s Warband, rather than simply Beast models – which had technically made it impossible to field a Cave Drake in that army list.

There have also been corrections to the likes of Gûlavhar’s Move Value and the range of Drûzhag’s Magical Powers. 

We hope these clarifications will make your Middle-earth gaming experiences even smoother. Remember, if you have any questions, then feel free to send them to middle-earthfaq@gwplc.com where our rules team will be able to see them. We’ll see you for the next designer’s commentary in February.