The Hobbit

Games Workshop has just unveiled their new The Hobbit game to tie in with the new movie. There's some really nice miniatures in here, but I'm starting to wonder if GW is starting to price us out of the hobby. Some of the new sets are incredibly expensive, especially since you don't get the level of customization with these models that you normally see with other GW systems. Generally Lord of the Rings was cheaper because of this. I'm thinking its highly unlikely i'll be purchasing this game to play now. The Rulebook is particularly pricey, and I'll be interested to see whether a digital version is on offer and if it is much cheaper. The prices that are starting to come through on recent sets are really starting to make me uncomfortable, especially since money is so tight at the moment with the economy being screwed. I'm seriously evaluating other sources such as third-party suppliers, or the second hand market to feed my hobby.

The other thing I'm wondering is how does this work in with the existing Lord of the Rings system. My local GW clerk said it was replacing the Lord of the Rings system, but the War of the Ring system would be staying in place, and would be expanded to include these new miniatures eventually.

The new range includes:

The Hobbit bundle $1240
Escape from Goblin Town $205
The Hobbit Rulebook $140
The Trolls $140
Goblin Warriors $55
Hunter Orcs $55
Hunter Orcs on Fell Wargs $70
Goblin Town Scenery $95
The White Council (Finecast) $125
Bolg (Finecast) $40
Narzug (Finecast) $35
Fimbul the Hunter (Finecast) $70
Goblin Captain (Finecast) $30
The Hobbit Custom Figure Case $110
The Hobbit Paint Set $70

All prices listed above are Australian.

It will be interesting to see how The Hobbit is embraced by hobbyists here, as Lord of the Rings never seemed to be that big here. It's difficult to find someone to play against, and I haven't seen anyone painting the models in ages. I've still got quite a few LOTR figures to paint, but I've been finding I've tended toward painting models from the main systems lately, as I can actually play games with them, and they've got a lot of detail and customization that adds interest to working on them.