We Owe EVERYTHING To This Box From 2001 🐸

[@Chesterbigwigful]

It’s not unreasonable to say that Games Workshop in its current state wouldn’t exist without the LOTR SBG. The license was so successful and lucrative in the first 4-5 years, that it allowed GW to invest heavily in its miniature design technology. Which is why it’s current plastic kits were miles ahead of the competition in the late 2000s and are still amongst the best today. Whilst 40K is and will probably always be the top dog in the GW pantheon, I think LOTR was the system which enabled GW to become the giant in the mini war gaming space that it is currently.

[@MSPaints]

Thanks for pointing that out! An aspect I didn’t get time to include or even mention!

[@reddragon4482]

I remember getting this when I was a kid lol. Takes me back lol.

[@Rex1987]

but wasnt the LOTR SBG from around the time that GW started the end times thing for their own Warhammer fantasy battles? which sort of made LOTR SBG the replacement game for anyone looking to get their miniture fix from a fantasy setting?

[@Chesterbigwigful]

@@Rex1987 No, the LOTR system predates the end of Warhammer by a good 14 years. At that point GW wasn’t supporting the LOTR and the game almost died off, until they rebranded as the Middle Earth SBG a few years ago to keep to license holders happy. The game has had something of a second wind since then.

[@Karloss00]

@@Rex1987 No, Warhammer fantasy was ended in 2015, This box came out alongside the Fellowship of the Ring film.

[@BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

Loki is such a king.

[@420alphaomega]

RIP Loki, I cried ugly tears atleast you gave him the dignity and respect all living creatures deserve.

[@paulthurston2883]

God bless little Loki. I wasn't expecting that ending. I have lost both my cats recently. It has ripped me apart.

[@Powersnufkin]

Sorry to hear about your cat Loke. Best wishes and condolences.

[@Ragsta]

Sorry for your loss of friend, Loki - my first hobby experience was seeing the original RTB01 Space Marine wombles fighting over a tea tray sized table covered with Jenga blocks and lichen moss.

[@0sumgame541]

I'm glad to see Loki was adopted and loved before returning to Valhalla. My wife and.I have made it a habit of adopting cats from rescues that have a harder time finding homes. I Started playing Rogue Trader as a kid back in the 80's, loved it. Dropped out of the hobby for a while and pursued other interests. Saw Lord of he Rings in the theater, fell in love with the franchise bought the game and played it regularly with some really good friends and had an absolute blast..Fast forward to today still have almost all the miniatures and play it on occasion with my daughter. It is the best rule system Games Workshop ever published.

[@robdabanks]

So Loki is a legend. Very important to address that. My first Warhammer experience funny enough in 2001, was my dad taking me to a store to grab a model. I knew I wanted Sauron. Loved the dude and I wanted that model. We went to the MK store. My dad asks the GW worker "Where's your LOTR stuff?" And the GW worker looked at it, scoffed and said "You don't want him playing that. This is the big game most players play." The prick then proceeds to convince my dad to send me home with the Black Templar vs Dark Elder Boxset and I had no idea how to play it and barely enjoyed Sci-fi. I didn't pick up my Sauron for another 12 years. I'm still salty today lol

[@PeteTheWargamer]

That magazine is what got me into miniature wargaming. I'd heard of Warhammer but wasn't really enticed enough by it to pick it up until I saw the mags TV advert. I was 12, so the fortnightly cost was easily affordable with my pocket money and allowed me to build up my collection. I owe a lot to that magazine.

[@JBrown_Trivium]

Same here brother. NEVER knew of tabletop wargaming until that magazine. It was truly a gateway

[@gaelenzettle1325]

The first miniature I ever got I begged my parents to combine all of my birthday, christmas, etc presents into 1... a balrog. Built it with dollar store super glue and it immediately fell apart and was never painted, but I still have it today in a bits bin.

[@cory7328]

Loki you look like an awesome pal. Rest easy buddy. I got into the hobby in the mid to late 90s when a friend introduced me to Warzone Mutant Chronicles. I have been entranced every since. I didn't have the money then and frankly I don't have time or money now to properly enjoy this hobby. That doesn't keep me from loving the artistic nature around every aspect of it. The LOTR/Hobbit mini franchise is a key player in the continued growth of this hobby.

[@maxmessner8291]

Loki… ❤️ How very nice to do what you did for that wonderful animal. Thank you. Louis Btw Love your tutorials!! 🎯🎯🎯👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@colinmelchior]

Condolences on the loss of Loki.

[@magictoastical]

Aahhh Loki 😻, you hit me right in the feels 🥲

[@X.davidWilliams]

Huzzah,, that's just great what you did for Loki.

[@NeonKnight83]

RIP little Loki. He seems like he was a great friend.

[@markhanson9508]

Thanks for giving Loki some of the basic dignity that all animals deserve. My partner got me into routinely fostering animals and it's one of the best parts of my life. Though often heartbreaking. ❤️

[@cheetor_sho3box]

Great video. As someone working on Terminator Genisys and Middle Earth figs at the moment, your recent output has been on point for me: a happy coincidence. I'm an older vintage to you about a decade I'm guessing, and as a result I find it fascinating that the early 2000 LotR releases are your "Oldhammer" (a dumb word, but whatever) as it almost passed me by as I painted 3rd/4th ed 40k figs at the time. It is only relatively recently that Middle-Earth Battle Companies has caught my attention, so as I am coming at it from a very different POV, I find it great to see coherent videos about how other people experience it. Love it. As for Loki and rescue animals, people fucking suck, so it got me right in the feels to see you doing the important stuff alongside this nostalgia/history piece. You will remember your short time with Loki forever. Good stuff.

[@chitzkoi]

loki looked he had some really wonderful and relaxing times with you before he moved on. I lost a wonderful adopted fella myself recently and it's all we can do to give them some happiness before they go.

[@MSPaints]

Always nice to know they were happy and chill and safe toward the end :)

[@lucycannon6732]

👏👏👏Wasn't expecting that tear-jerker at the end tho. We've housed dozens of cats with health issues, and nearly every one left a marked impression.

[@GeoffreyBronson]

Your whole point at the end about knowing what a model will do due to seeing the films and being easily able to assess their threat level is absolutely spot on

[@MSPaints]

Aye, really helps with the reach of tabletop games. I enjoy that about licensed card games as well

[@MattPerrin]

And that ending... Animals are kind of amazing. RIP Loki. 😞

[@cmcm366]

Awwww Loki....

[@AndurzTalksHobbies]

Yah this is solidly the best game gameworkshop has produced, full stop. The system is just so smooth but gets real competitive when you get into it. Honestly, it's still the only game I regularly play as it's just so much more intuitive than any other systems I've tried. And Loki looks like the perfect boy

[@CrumbnFur]

fuzzy headbutts to loki, and my first venture into warhammer in general was a box of plastic skeletons, 1992 or even 1991 something like that and i think it cost between 5-10 pounds there abouts that was about 20 models for under £15.

[@smoss9813]

It was lovely to meet Loki. Nice job with giving him lots of fuss and love.

[@tunguskalumberjack9987]

I always love your videos, but I really enjoyed that very sweet tribute ending. Seems like Loki was a very special fellow with a few setbacks, just like the rest of us. When you just take a little time to get to know him though, he totally makes it worth your while. It’s great that you got to spend some time with him and make him feel loved and comfortable while he was still here. I’m sure he’s somewhere in the great beyond eating massive piles of food with no problem, leaving even more massive (but somehow odorless) piles everywhere, and running about getting petted by everyone. He was lucky to have some great times, however short, with you as well. Right on- and safe travels, Loki!

[@MSPaints]

My heart goes out to whoever is cleaning his tray in cat heaven!

[@EwanBlackmane]

Great Vid m8! Poor Loki.

[@oldex6564]

Oh Loki. What a beautiful creature. I'm very sorry for your loss and for everyone who knew him. ❤️

[@seileen1234]

The nostalgia hits hard with that magazine

[@iamrubenmes]

Your humour, soulfulness and respect for LotR are matched by the wholesomeness of how you treated and shared about Loki. I am glad I continued watching the last couple of minutes, Loki's story deeply touched me.

[@arenthus]

Dude... That ending... It real hits me hard. My wife and I, let a black stray move in almost 7 years ago. he got in a fight a few years back, this messed up his right eye badly. And both ears look a bit ruff. We still love him, this summer he got sick and for a moment we where sure he would not make it, but he did. Shut up! I'm not crying! You are crying! Go away! Shut up! Just got something in my eyes

[@ThatJakers]

Loki is such a sweet boi! Funnily enough my dad picked up the Return of the King starter set for this game and I became enamored with painting men of Rohan off and on mounts. With just 3 greens and 3 browns I was able to really enjoy batch painting and later enjoyed painting Dunedain and Wargs. This world through film and then on table was a great way to bond with my dad and brother and will forever be special to me decades later.

[@Direksone]

I am pretty sure this game is also why I started with the hobby at a very young age. A friend of mine was actually collecting these (yea half of those Uruks were missing spears of course) and it introduced me to Games Workshop and 40k. I came back to the hobby in my teenage years again and abandoning it again and coming back to it once again during the lockdowns. Those sculpts for the heroes still look absolutely fantastic and it's making me itch to get them. Also thank you for giving Loki so much love for such a short time. Really special.

[@MrArmour]

"40k lore is completely fucking agonising to endure if you're not interested" - I think I love you, man. Aw, damn. My sympathies on Loki.

[@MSPaints]

Very true though innit. I found the most digestible way to actually read it is in the panini sticker album they currently have out!

[@marcjohnson5991]

I was not expecting to have the seed planted of a Mike Shinoda produced Dreamcast exclusive Devil May Cry. I am here for it

[@cjwyalk7843]

Your humor is the best, cracks me up at last once a video

[@kaz9357]

You will not be disappointed in exploring this game more. Rest in peace loki.

[@beeleywood7796]

The thought of he Perry brothers and Priestley gaming the battle of five armies always brings a wry smile to my face

[@MrGrimmNZ]

Awww Loki... how beautiful he is. I'm so sorry

[@stephenryder3331]

This was my gateway into the hobby. I went to my cousin's house and he had just got it, we played a few games and I was hooked! I then spent the next two to three years playing it. I was only 11 when it came out. After the age of 14 I didn't hobby (due to having no one to play with). However, I got back into the hobby around lockdown time (40k and AOS). This first LOTR box was definitely the thing that started my journey and all these years later I can still feel the excitement of playing the game for the first time.

[@odharrison23]

Thanks for the ending!

[@Nosculptor]

Superb video again. And that cat had personality, no wonder you quickly became attached to him.

[@evh7424]

It is why I'm here. That box for Christmas got me started. And yes, every large eBay lot is missing 2/3 of it's pointy parts and covered in one layer of paint a millimeter thick.

[@wardaddyminiatures]

Love the fact the kid in the magazine is priming his mini with a 000 size detail brush! Top video mate love the lotr stuff as you know! Keep em coming

[@MSPaints]

Absolute grapefruits on the kid for going into it the hard way hahaha

[@valianthobbies]

@@MSPaints That's how you extend your hobby dollars when you don't have any income. The hard way means more time "hobbying"

[@thomaskathmann8070]

The 000 detail brush priming was probably the meanest thing I ever read in a tutorial written for kids.

[@StriketheRunes]

Games Workshop’s terrain tutorials, even in the dedicated terrain book, always had big “How to draw an owl 1. Draw some circles 2. Draw the rest of the ••••ing owl” energy, didn’t they?

[@MSPaints]

Perfect analogy! Thank you

[@6Stevo]

I never played the game. But must admit that some of the range appeals to me and I know the game is highly spoken of.

[@jameshogg601]

with the new great value army bundles and free rules for them there has never been a better time for a long while!

[@brenthartman502]

Thankyou mate for the nostalgia .. it was great and I have lots of the LOTR range. Loki teared me up ... as I had the same white cat and he suffered cancer in The Australian sun of his ears being clipped but he lived a good life being spoilt and loved. Cheers mate - you're a diamond.

[@MSPaints]

Trying to keep our white cat out the sunny windowsil in the summer aint easy. They can't help themselves!

[@brenthartman502]

@@MSPaints Australia is 4 to 5 months of dancing on the fucking sun mate ...lol

[@DanielEbeck]

I think that LotR was my favourite product to work on. Sending the same mini back, with tiny adjustments, to a certain actor again, and again, until it was approved was rather soul-destroying. But the enthusiasm from Peter Jackson, Sean Astin and Sir Christopher Lee was very gratifying. J-P Brisigotti (later of BattleFront) was tireless in coordinating it all.

[@MSPaints]

Incredible work pal! Definitely one of those things that must have been crushing at the time but in hindsight was amazing thing you contributed to the mini gaming world.

[@DanielEbeck]

At least I wasn’t the poor sculptor who had to keep making the changes. :D I’m glad you appreciated the work that Rick et al put in to it.

[@cliffetters]

I worked as a manager for GW when that box set came out. Getting folks into painting and playing with toy soldiers suddenly became A LOT easier. "Most important thing GW has ever done." You're probaby spot on.

[@GhostMkrMiniatures]

I was about 9 or 10, it was the mid-90’s. A cousin showed me this hobby he was interested in. That was it. I’m approaching 40 and I’m still as in love with painting as I was at the start.

[@thorshammer8033]

Wow. Flashbacks. I remember stopping at the newsagents to grab the first issue of the magazine when I was on my way to see my wife and newborn son in the hospital. Now the lads bigger than me.

[@spanish4289]

"It's made of foam... crack on!" Thanks for sharing Loki with us, yanking on my heart strings there. RIP little fella

[@leamdreambeam5438]

My first games workshop experience was the Mines of Moria boxset and some Riders of Rohan, which I butchered as a kid, then I switched to Warhammer and collected vampire count and played a few friendly kids tournaments in my local GW store. My cousin then handed down to me a bit of rouge trader space marine stuff which is now with you Dave to add to your epic collection. Then I stopped the hobby for a fair few years, and now Im 26 and I'm balls deep in my very first 40k army and I am fully committed to Necrons. So yea, it all stemmed from being obsessed with the LOTR movies, that was my gateway into this awesome hobby. You are spot on Dave we definitely owe a lot to this.

[@DaruWarchief]

That was the start of Tabletop for me and my best friend... and we are still playing lots of Tabletop Games together :) 21 years... wow

[@Nat1videos]

Great video! Love the LOTR models, but this is a super nice breakdown on what the game did for wargaming. Sad times for Loki, he looks like a lovely cat :(

[@saltfreegamer]

Thanks for looking out for Loki, and for sharing his story. 😿😻 Hope you're feeling better. Your ability to stay motivated and keep making awesome videos is inspiring! 👍 I also have that green box, and just recently painted it. The fiction and box art get you to give GW games a chance, but the rules and pricing stopped me from engaging for at least 20 years. Smaller game systems like Kill Team, the discovery that MESBG is still going, and most importantly the YT community, finally got me in.

[@adrians2190]

There is a great video with Rick Priestley about how he didn't want the LoTR game to be a Warhammer clone. They pushed for a smaller scale and more human proportions. The bosses at GW were reluctant......

[@joshpotter9261]

The smaller scale was an economic choice, not a desire from the development team.

[@tharkwarrior]

@@joshpotter9261 I thought the scale and realistic proportions were dictated by the license. Mithril Miniatures had to follow similar rules with their Middle Earth license too.

[@joshpotter9261]

@@tharkwarrior nope, it was purely economical. There is an interview where Rick P clarifies it.

[@zprettpolly]

Any link to this interview folks?

[@joshpotter9261]

@@zprettpolly kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmiUloSlpdhpo9k

[@thislostendevour]

14 year old me saved up my pocket money for weeks to buy this back in 2001. Back in those days we just played on the carpet and it was some of the best gaming memories I have.

[@daedalus6796]

I got introduced to Middle Earth through a whole bunch of collector's items my parents used to have. They weren't really fans but I got obsessed. They had a chess set, framed film strips, statuettes. Even a replica of Aragorn's sword. I only learned there was a miniatures game after getting Warhammer 40k, sadly I never got the opportunity to get into it.

[@waylander1978]

The irony was that LOTR was treated with real hostility by many 40K and WFB players. They generally hated it and thought it was a distraction.

[@oitoitoi1]

a lot of the aos players do the same even now, they don't realise their game wouldn't come close to existing without the profits gw made from LotR.

[@OldManRogers]

And yet as a system its contained and complete and much easier to grasp than AoS or 40k is now

[@incredibleflameboy]

I loved this set, I remember playing it on my kitchen floor and having to make rules to account for the distance needed to climb the height of a chair. It helped that this set was sold in supermarkets too. I got mine in W.H. Smith.

[@NigelMills]

I'm a gamer so I enjoy your videos. The quality of your videos just keep getting better and better. The production quality has to be one the best in our hobby. Thanks for all your work :)

[@lordpadric2521]

good old memories where i was playing on the kitchen table with some bottles and cups of terrain. the best games we ever fought

[@jinxevis260]

This was my first box of warhammers as a child jezzz it served me many hours of joy ^^ 21 years later still got em

[@DingoPaints]

😢 RIP Loki 💜

[@TronsTableTop]

You're not wrong man. It was the magazine that got me into the hobby. Battle Games in Middle Earth. What an entry into the hobby!

[@robbie.205]

Beautiful cat, yes, Loki will be missed. Dude, you make the best videos. Every week I look forward to this time. The day you stop making them is the day I delete my KZbin membership. Cheers.

[@tifauk]

Oh man, those magazines take me back! I never ever played the game, but i remember sitting down with my Uncle and painting Uruk-Hai shields and swords and he'd do the bodies. Good times man

[@wulfbak]

I remember this box. I owned it as well as The Two Towers box. It did inject a lot of new players into the miniature hobby. From my perspective, I was 30 when this box hit. I remember getting a force pained up and then going to the local GW store's LotR night. I was the only person there old enough to drive. At the time, this was such a "kiddie" game that it didn't attract a lot of the older, more seasoned crowd. A lot of us in that crowd figured that. we already had Warhammer Fantasy. That scratched our LotR itch.

[@KennethAndrews]

♥️🐈Loki!!!

[@Bloodfencer1990]

This game is what got me into miniatures. In Germany there was a magazine that taught you how to play the game and paint the minis which included some minis in each issue. It got me into painting and buying more units so i could play giant battles with my mates. It makes me a bit sad that the game isn't as prominent anymore as it once was, but I guess these IPs live and die with the hype of their movies.

[@Dale_Groves]

Another top drawer video.

[@gregmccormack5709]

This was the first set of minis I ever bought. It was pretty awesome and definately what got me into the hobby.

[@thelonelybolter8245]

I am LOVING these last two oldhammer/middlehammer episodes! thank you!!!

[@wargamingrealms]

By far the best gaming system GW has produced so far, The Fellowship starter box and the magazines are the reason I got into wargaming and am still doing it, I now help run the lotr scene down my local club and store :)

[@zprettpolly]

Tony screaming "De Agostini... DE AGOSSSTEEEENI!" from (in my head canon) the toilet had me here! Top work again Dave! 🤣

[@alarak2159]

Great vid - absolutely love LOTR & mesbg. Also.. goodbye Loki.

[@Flamethrower1942]

I was 16 when the box set dropped ,I remember the hype for the movie and the game, I think the game came out quite a bit before the movie dropped too. Sad to loose an animal friend ,I go a bit Radagast most of the time ,I made friends with some sparrows and a robinin that visit my garden Igot them eating out my hand but sadly they are no longer around.

[@charleswebster830]

an honourable mention should go to the weekly released magazine with the lotr miniatures and paints, thats what got me and several friends into the miniatures world

[@MSPaints]

Pretty sure I do indeed mention it.

[@GeoffreyPeas]

Things I expect from an MS paints vid: Actually good patter Informative nuggets High level production values Nostalgia overload What I don't expect: Sobbing like a man with a grazed bollock. RIP Little Loki

[@Sam_888]

Great backing tracks

[@GeoffreyPeas]

@@Sam_888 of course I new I was missing a few quality items

[@fakeman6542]

I loved those goblin minis so much, that box hit me with so much nostalgia

[@chaosincarna]

Lord of the Rings Battle for Middle Earth 2 is still baller. If you can get a copy, play it. It's one of the best RTS to exist.

[@Starbladesarcane]

That magazine was the gateway drug into an almost 20 year addiction to this hobby. I dream of the day bgime magazine comes back.

[@benjamincroxson2020]

Both my older brother and I got a starter box set each - he took all the goblins, I took the elves and men. We liked it so much we starting getting the fornightly mags each from about issue 3 until they stopped. We both still play with miniatures of some kind - he plays 40k, I'm into DnD. Looking back, massive part of our upbringing alone, and I imagine many others were the same. The reach and long-term affect this set had was MASSIVE.

[@TheHobbyCorner]

Cracking video mate. Another problem with those magazines was you HAD to go to a GW to get paints after the initial tiny pots got used up. But it was great. I'd love to dive back into my magazines. Got about 40 unopened issues. And that cat is pretty cute...for a cat. Big loves

[@rosmith606]

Memory unlocked. I had this box!

[@rosmith606]

and the subscription to the magazine, too

[@matthewrbetts]

Man. That box. A beautiful trip down memory lane. Discovered you via the chaps at the paintingphase - keep up the good work!

[@lootpigeon]

Loki 😻😻 poor guy, he was loving those sticks though - ours demands them everyday 🙄 Great vid! LOTR miniatures wasn't really something I've had a look at, I do like the idea of the characters actually looking like the people playing them 😁 I agree with 40k lore, I do love the old warhammer lore though!

[@MSPaints]

I’m very slowly getting into it. Not in much of a rush to build an additional pile of shite. Yeeeee old world lore is quite fun. Probably because I understand it as medieval and colonial Europe. Easier to grasp.

[@christophercassidy-schroed9169]

Awesome video dude. My Father has 50k points of LoTR, and is officially thr biggest painted LoTR army in the whole of Australia. He's excited for the new release of the game and hopes he can use his minis again!

[@thomassaxon8254]

It's still a very similar game nowadays. There's a few additions but it's at the core still the same game. And the magazine is how I started at the grand old age of 6. And it got me back into the hobby when I got to the end of undergraduate and had a bit of an identity crisis. Good video man.

[@NovogordV]

I can agree with you, that Cardgame was great! With some great mechanics and lovely cards. A shame it faded away...

[@Martyr217]

Yup, me and my brother went halvsies on the LOTRs boxset 1 month after release.

[@calvanoni5443]

Long ago there was the Bakshi LotR movie, & miniatures came out for it before the movie, I bought the Nazgul & Orcs, that was 1977. 😊

[@benjaminjack867]

This box is 100% what got me into minatures; I moved on to 40k at some point but this video makes me want to go back! Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[@timothyyoung2962]

I played a bit of 40k back in the day, but moved on when I got older. When this came out, I thought what the hell and purchased it. It reignited my love for mini games and made me try 40K again. I quickly realized why I STOPPED playing 40k, and just stuck with LOTR. Oh, shout out to your Warhammer Underworlds video. Made me pick up a base game and four teams. Game rocks. REALLY enjoying it. My fiance loves it. She's into skirmish games because she hates playing games where you need, like, 400 little plastic dudes to play. But Underworlds is dead simple, small teams, compact board, easy dice mechanics, and some cool strategy with the cards.

[@MSPaints]

That’s what I like most about that game! Very approachable for partners and friends

[@alexschneider1886]

Sbg is by far the best GW rules set they’ve printed. The game still has a solid following at my lgs even before the recent revival. Love it and love the new wave of support it’s gotten

[@klavakkhazga3996]

The magazines are how I started painting and collecting models. I wasn't even 10 years old but I remember vividly going to buy one when I rarely got some money

[@JMACCSArmiesOfMiddleEarth]

Best game ever hands down. What a set of rules. Still playing it 15yrs later. Eomer doesnt look like Karl urban because they accidental did it on the stunt double.

[@Necrothrall]

Middle Earth is such a great game. I got back into it recently when I found my old stuff in my Dad's loft. Currently prepping for a tournament in a couple of weeks. I've gone right off all GWs other games other than Blood Bowl. Poor Loki. Truly a special little guy.