Games Workshop LOTR and Necromunda New Releases

Each week, Games Workshop hits us with a bevvy of new releases, from new units and rules books for their core wargames Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000. This week, Games Workshop sent along some new releases for some of their other games, the sci-fi skirmish game Necromunda, and their LOTR wargame Lord of the Rings: Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game. Follow along as we take a quick look at all of these new releases in our Games Workshop preview.

Games Workshop New Release - Necromunda: The Aranthian Succession - The Vaults of Temenos

Necromunda is one of the most in-depth, "crunchiest" sci-fi skirmish games out on the market today, and Games Workshop is added even more content to the game with the release of their new campaign book Necromunda: The Aranthian Succession - The Vaults of Temenos.

In this book, the story of the Aranthian Succession is continued (after this storyline being first introduced in the book Cinderak Burning). Necromunda is a very campaign and story-focused game, and this book allows players to continue said story through campaign scenarios focused on "The Great Pilgrimage."

Also included in the book are seven new narrative scenarios that also follow the results of The Great Pilgrimage, four Dramatis Personae (important people in the story that you can use in your campaign) including the Prophet of the Redemption, Axon Hammer, Durgan Kill-Fist, and Scrutinator-Primus Servalen. There are also rules for new units in the game for House Cawdor and the Palanite Enforcer gangs, including...

Games Workshop New Release - Enforcer 'Sanctioner' Pattern Automata

These big, hulking machines are semi-sentient servo-automata used to help keep Halmawr's piece, and are available only to Palanite Enforcers gangs only. With a toughness of 5 and 3 Wounds each, these brutes are ready to pacify a restless populace with their assault claw, heavy shock baton, and grenade launcher array with photon flash grenades. You can also switch these out with a Sanction pattern mancatcher, an SLHG pattern assault ram, or (as we did in the images below) with a concussion cannon.

They also benefit from some very cool new Special Rules, including 'Automated Repair Systems' which says that these units don't need to roll if this fighter recovers from being Seriously Injured - instead it automatically recovers as if a Flesh Wound had been rolled on the Injury Dice.

It also has the Special Rule 'Mobile Bulwark,' which is really unique here, which states that if a friendly fighter is in partial cover due to being obscured by a Sanctioner Automata, they instead count as being in full cover. This makes sense, as these huge, heavily armored fighters would - in reality - make for excellent cover.

Now let's move from the grim darkness of the Underhive to the rolling hills of Gondor, as I dig into...

Games Workshop New Release - Lord of the Rings: MESBG Gondor Terrain

As a true lover of the Games Workshop Lord of the Rings game, Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game, I was thrilled to receive new terrain to build and put together for this preview. Included were three different sets: The classic Gondor Ruins (which we've seen in other box sets before), the Gondor Mansion, and the tall and impressive Gondor Tower.

What I really enjoy about all of this Middle-Earth Strategy Battle Game terrain is how modular it is. Though, for illustrative purposes, I carefully constructed each of these sets of terrain to match the directions included in the box, the possibilities are near-limitless when it comes to building out much of these sets (excluding the Tower, which has its own unique design). Walls can be arranged in several different combinations, roofs can be built to pivot at angles, and you can swap in ruined elements (which I did on the railing of the Mansion and the roof of the Tower) to show the elements of time and war.

While I won't go into too much nitty gritty detail about my painting process for this scenery, I will say it was an incredibly easy process to get a "good enough for the table" (aka the "Giaco Special") look on everything. In (quick) summary, I based everything with a cream colored spray from Citadel paints (Wraith Bone), applied a single layer of color on top (a slate color for the masonry and relevant browns, grays, and blues for the doors, railings, and roofing shingles), gave everything (save one of the ruins) a healthy coat of Nuln Oil, and then dry-brushed pure white lightly over everything.

The result gave everything a slightly beleaguered (but not completely derelict) wear-and-tear look I was hoping for, and took all of an evening and a half, tops! I really love the Gondor Tower, which though fairly simple to construct is now the centerpiece of the table, standing tall and proud amidst the ruins. 

All in all, I was thrilled with these new Games Workshop scenery additions, and they'll find a permanent place on my LOTR table (and will likely sneak onto my Age of Sigmar and Warcry tables too, once we move out of the era of the beast).

What do you think of the new releases coming up for preorder this weekend from Games Workshop? Would you use a similar paint scheme for these terrain pieces? Are you getting into Necromunda with its new models and extended support? Let us know!

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The products used in the creation of this preview were provided by Games Workshop.