You can ride to ruin, death, and the world’s ending for less with this discount on the new edition of the Lord of the Rings wargame, and it’s really taking me back.
Designed to tie in with The War of the Rohirrim animated movie coming out later this month, Battle of Edoras is currently available to pre-order for $187 at Miniature Market rather than the usual $220. As for UK fans, it’s £111.99 at Magic Madhouse instead of £140. I’ve had a good look around like a warg scout on patrol, but have yet to find the Lord of the Rings wargame for less. Based on previous Games Workshop/Warhammer releases, I also doubt it’ll dip in price any further before launch on December 14th.
As someone that grew up when The Lord of the Rings trilogy was hitting cinemas, I would ask for the wargaming boxset that accompanied each movie every Christmas. I adored these starter sets, so it makes me all kinds of nostalgic that we’ve finally got another one for the Holiday season. You can be sure I’ll be running through Battle of Edoras’ scenarios over the festive season like I’m 11 again.
Naturally, this is just one of many Cyber Monday board game deals currently doing the rounds. For more, be sure to check out our hub.
Should you buy Battle of Edoras?
Battle of Edoras is a return to the movie-themed boxsets of old we used to get ages ago; rather than the sprawling packs based on specific conflicts (like the excellent Battle of Osgiliath set from 2022), this is based on The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim anime that tells the story of Helm Hammerhand’s family. Y’know, the guy who was important enough to have the fortress of Helm’s Deep named after him.
Freshly updated with this new setting centered around the warriors of Rohan vs. wildmen of Dunland, this box features two full armies, the core rulebook, a scenario pack, board, terrain, and dice. In other words, it’s got everything you need to get going with the game. Add a sprinkling of new rules (albeit very few big changes, because the game wasn’t in need of an overhaul) and you’ve got a solid intro for one of Games Workshop’s longer-running systems.
I’ve not managed to dig in properly yet because I’ve been tied up with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coverage, but so far it’s the sort of thematic, narrative wargaming that made me fall in love with this system in the first place. Although we don’t have full context for what’s going on here due to its missions being based on a film that isn’t out yet, it does a decent job of selling the stakes whilst weaving in a drip-feed of rules. This is the kind of boxset where every scenario revolves around teaching you a specific mechanic or skill, but that doesn’t come at the cost of drama.
My one gripe? The models are much fiddlier than I’d like. Don’t get me wrong, they look magnificent when finished. But do the Dunlendings need separate, tiny face pieces, for example? I suspect this has something to do with practicalities, mold-space, customization, and fitting as much as possible onto one sprue, but I’m not sure it’s as beginner friendly as I’d like.
Still, that’s the only downside I’ve seen so far with what is shaping up to be a great boxset. If you’ve got a hankering to get back into Lord of the Rings wargaming, I’d recommend it.
My review should be up shortly, so keep an eye out if you’re on the fence.
For more savings, don’t miss the latest Cyber Monday gaming deals or these Cyber Monday Lego deals.