Middle-earth project manager Adam Troke joined host Ceri this week on Warhammer Live to chat about what’s going on in Middle-earth and play some Strategy Battle Game. Not everyone has a Twitch subscription or can tune in to the live stream, so we’re here to fill you in.

TLDR: Adam will spill all the beans at next month’s Forge World Open Day, July 15. Same day as the World Cup final, inconveniently. Not that I’d be going anyways as I live in America … not going to either the Open Day or the World Cup final if you catch my drift.

I digress, I think more than any other product line, Adam gets put in a tight spot due to the licensing deal Games Workshop has with Warner Bros/New Line Cinema for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Strategy Battle Game. Which of course is being rebranded as the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game. The rebranded logo first appeared on the Battle Companies book and presumably will be gracing the cover of the new Battle of the Pelennor Fields box set. Yes “box set” not “box game” as Adam was careful with his wording. So careful in fact that he read from the Warhammer Community blog post about the UK Games Expo because he wanted to make sure he didn’t say anything he wasn’t supposed to.

Adam called the Battle of the Pelennor Fields the most important battle of the War of the Ring in the Third Age and will be the central point of the new box set. This has consumed the Middle-earth team’s for months now. Adam and Ceri discussed the Forge World Open Day and what goes on there. Basically it’s a chance for fans to see all the new stuff, meet with the staff writers, model designers, painters, etc, and ask them questions. If you can’t make it, don’t worry the Warhammer Community team will blog about the news revealed as well.

Adam touched on the speculation of what the new box set means. He said he hasn’t seen anybody right yet and some people wildly wrong publicly thinking they know more than they do. Let’s keep speculating then guys, I’m sure we’ll hit the nail on the head eventually.

A questioner in the chat asked “A Halbarad that doesn’t require me to hock a kidney to acquire?” to which Adam responded he doubts a Christmas will go by without being able to help you. Adam has spoken before about getting more models available again and back in production as well as using the Made to Order feature to get models out there too. But before Christmas is the best approximation we’ve received so far.

Adam plugged the Desolation of Toronto tournament that will feature those lovely new trophies provided by Games Workshop. Pretty cool if you plan on going to the event in Canada.

Ceri and Adam also discussed Battle Companies book that came out last year and the upcoming Battle Companies event at Warhammer World in August. The Warhammer Community blog posted the rules packet and it sounds like an interesting event. I’m thinking it may even be possible to use the same rules and scenarios in a local campaign, but instead of doing it over the course of two days but over several weeks.

Adam also gave a recap of the Seven Stones tournament run by Palantir hosts Damian and Tom. Adam also did a write up of the event on Warhammer Community which you can find here.

The question was asked, again, about whether or not GW will produce any models based on the upcoming Amazon Lord of the Rings show. And again, Adam answered by saying they will be looking toward that opportunity, but as of right now that’s something will be decided by powers much higher than he and he’s looking forward to more news about the show just like the rest of us.

Some questions were asked about hobbit armies and the meta of the Middle-earth SBG. Hobbits, Adam says, can be quite an effective force due to their accuracy in shooting bows and throwing rocks. They also have high courage which is useful for dealing with monsters and staying on the board, and they are also magic resistant to tough for enemy spell casters to nail them. The meta in Middle-earth is quite balanced at the moment as it’s been so long since the last rules reset. Adam’s advice is to pick and army you like and play it a lot so you know it well. Adam said one of the best ways to learn is to have a chat with your opponent after a game and ask what you did wrong, what did you do well, what cost you the game, etc. Also Adam said SBG is a game in which real life military tactics work in the game as well and suggested reading up on the likes of Hannibal.

Adam and Ceri discussed more future events, Ardacon in Manchester, Warhammer Fest Europe in Germany and Adam coming to NOVA in the US. Adam made a call out to find his doubles partner from last year, who he’s forgotten the name of, so spread the word, Adam would like to partner with you again.

The question was asked if the Battle Companies content in White Dwarf will make its way into a future supplement to which Adam answered “probably yes” (Adam’s new nickname by the way). I know a lot of people have been discouraged by the trickle in White Dwarf and ruffled about why it wasn’t included in the initial book. But there is hope on the horizon for you.

Lots of questions were posed by the chat, trying to bait Adam into revealing details of the box set which Adam deftly avoided. For being a dwarf fan (even in Blood Bowl) he’s quite adept at dodging 😉

That about covers it, again not a lot of details on the stuff we’re all dying to know about, but all or at least a lot more shall be revealed to us at next month’s Forge World Open Day on July 15.