Introducing people to Middle Earth : Strategy Battle Game

Over the course of lockdown, I have seen a lot of posts from people who have started up the hobby and used their new-found free time to paint up their first army. We in this community are very fortunate to have such a stable, constructive outlet during what has been, for many, a time filled with uncertainty and frustration. 

Now that measures are tentatively easing in some areas, and gamers are emerging bleary-eyed from their hobby caves, we find ourselves with a fresh audience of eager gamers ready to play their very first games. So at DC, we thought it'd be good to create a resource to help both students and teachers to get in to the game as quickly and painlessly as possible! So without further ado:

How to introduce people to Middle Earth SBG – and board games in general!

Newsflash - teaching is a very difficult skill to learn. It’s something that we often see done very well in gaming circles, but it can also be done quite badly, and lack of effort on the part of the teacher is not to blame. I haven’t had many chances to teach somebody how to play SBG from the ground up, but I have played and taught an enormous amount of board games in my life - and exactly the same rules apply. I’ll go over a few of the things I think it’s crucial to keep in mind in order to get somebody actively engaged in the game, and on track to beating you in future tournaments!

I’ll be assuming that you’re teaching your newbie through a ‘demo game’, and they haven’t yet picked up the rulebook.

1: Their first game is not about you.

The most important rule. For the first game, you are not a competitor – you are their full-time mentor. This is not the time to showcase your tactical skills. Every decision you make should not be a step towards victory, but towards giving them an engaging learning experience. It is important that they understand everything that they are doing, why they are doing it, and what consequences this will have for the outcome of the game. And it is your job to deliver this information in a digestible and fun way.

If you have brought your most competitive yellow alliance list down to the gaming centre, and are looking for some hardcore tournament prep games, it might be best to hand over to your friend with the fluffy Minas Tirith list for some tutorial games. Your newbie will learn nothing from being stomped. Which brings us to…

2: First Impressions Matter!

Perhaps even more important than teaching the mechanics is providing a positive, fun gaming experience for their first outing. Nothing will send a new player running for the iron hills faster than getting mercilessly stomped on game one. Those impressions really stay with people, and if you let it happen, you’ve lost a potential valuable community member, competitor, or future friend! Try to play on the same ‘wavelength’ as your newbie – don’t use rules they haven’t yet learned against them. Use what they have learned to provide an enjoyable game where they can make meaningful decisions. That being said…

3: One step at a time.

We all know the feeling of trying to take in too much information at once- it’s unpleasant, and you don’t want that to be your newbie’s first impression. Take baby steps, and keep everything relevant to what’s going on. Don’t begin by explaining victory points, heroic actions, magic powers, break points and ally matrices. If you do decide to use a matched play scenario, ensure it’s a simple one like ‘To the Death!’ – with points for wounding the leader, breaking and quartering your opponent, and killing banners - which are all things that will be useful to think about in all future games. But for a learning game, I think just forgoing a scenario entirely and just having a skirmish is totally OK.

How quickly you bring in new rules will depend on your newbie’s level of experience – but generally you’ll start by explaining warbands and deployment, and then begin moving your forces across the board. Maybe also go in to a tiny bit of detail on how to successfully engage – but again, don’t get bogged down in the details. If they are putting spears in front of swords or running off the map, by all means correct them, but this isn’t the time to start reciting Sun Tzu.

As the game goes on, you’ll bring in duel and wound rolls, control zones and pairing off, shooting and fight values, making way, traps and courage tests. Keep this snappy, keep the dice rolling, and make sure your newbie is happy with each mechanic before moving forward. If they’re confused, don’t drag them by the hand - hold back on introducing the next new mechanic until they feel comfortable. 

Remember that what is very simple to you might be completely baffling to them, and don't get frustrated if they struggle with certain concepts. Remember, we were all noobs once!

By the end of their first learning game, you want them to feel comfortable with the core combat loop - with maybe a few basic heroic actions and special rules thrown in. It might seem like baby stuff to a seasoned player, but it will be plenty for a demo game. It's important to remember that the area-based combat mechanics hold a lot of hidden complexity, which can melt the brain of even a seasoned player during long sessions, and just taking this in may be plenty for their first game. For a second game, you could try bringing in a matched play scenario and start talking through victory conditions, and if they’re comfortable, get your newbie thinking about overall strategy.  

4: Keep armies simple and balanced.

Odds are, your newbie will want to throw down a Gandalf, Sauron, Balrog or Mumak on game 1. Who can blame them? These are awesome units and will add a lot to any game of SBG. But are they really going to help them learn the game?

Bitter pill though it may be, it’s probably best to leave these units at home until they have a couple of games under their belt. Stomping an entire force with a Mumak feels awesome, but it won’t teach your newbie much about the game other than how to stomp guys with a Mumak.

For game number one, I suggest playing 300-400pts of troops, cavalry, archers (optional) and generic captains. Include a range of fight values. Try to stay away from characters that ‘break’ the core mechanics of the game, E.G. Ingold – you’re teaching the rules, not the exceptions. This will give a solid foundation, and will get your newbie making important decisions using the game's fundamental mechanics – which should be plenty to sink their teeth in to for the first few hours. I would use something like the following:

Minas Tirith (400pts)

Faramir, horse, lance, shield
3 x Knight of Minas Tirith, shield
6 x Ranger of Gondor, spear
5 x Warrior of Minas Tirith, shield

Captain of Minas Tirith
6 x Warrior of Minas Tirith, shield
6 x Guard of the Fountain Court, shield

Mordor (395pts)

Goroth
6 x Morannon Orc, shield
6 x Morannon Orc, shield, spear

Orc Captain, shield, warg
4 x Warg Riders, throwing spear

Orc Captain, shield
5 x Orc Warrior, orc bow, spear
5 x Orc Warrior, shield 

Are they optimised? Not at all! But they’re generic, roughly balanced, and will give your newbie a snippet of all the mechanics they’ll need. It’s also quite a nice thematic matchup between the more elite Minas Tirith guards and the Orc rabble. Faramir is the unit with the most potential here, so I’d give the Gondorians to your newbie so that they can pull off some fun shenanigans.

The ‘learning curve’ is something we actually see done very well in video games – they don’t start you off by fighting the final boss, or using the game’s most powerful and situational toys. They start you on the basics, and bring in complexity at a rate that the player can digest. The trick is to introduce fun new mechanics steadily to keep up engagement, but slowly enough that your newbie can digest everything to build up an understanding of the core gameplay.

On this same point, a lot of people recommend Battle Companies as a way of learning the game, but I personally do not agree – BC is great, but I find that the mass of extra rules can get in the way of the basics. I think the lists above equip your newbie far better for an actual game of SBG.

5: Sell sell sell!

When I said you’re a full-time teacher, I wasn’t actually telling the truth. You are also a salesperson! The second job you need to do in the first game is to demonstrate how great SBG is, and why they need it in their life.

This is done by presenting the game in a way that showcases its strengths. Make sure you hit all the highlights in the first game – not just by explaining them, but by making sure your newbie interacts with them. When this game is played well, it captures the feeling of clashing, grinding battles, where positioning is everything and one crucial breakthrough can win the day. A newbie picking up the game by themselves might not see this right away – they’ll be too busy grappling with rulebooks. But, with your guidance, they can get right in to the ebb and flow of battle. Think of yourself as the ride-along salesperson on their first test drive.

In the first game, I think the key points to hit are:

• Give a really clear example of control zones. It’s one of the cooler but more confusing parts of the game, so make sure to demonstrate it in a really engaging way.  
• Have your newbie set up a daring cavalry charge – Ride of the Rohirrim quotes optional, but encouraged.
• Show your newbie the devastation that happens when a rank of soldiers gets surrounded and trapped (if they’re the sensitive type, maybe have them do this to you, rather than you to them!)
• Showcase the duel mechanic, and if you can, how to leverage higher fight values to your advantage.
• Showcase some heroic actions, and make sure your newbie does some fun stuff with their heroes. Try to engineer situations where their heroics have a high impact. (And speaking of which…)

6: Take a dive if you have to.

If you’re in a position where your newbie friend has made some errors (which is likely) and you could crush them easily – don’t!

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to lose the game. But it does mean that you should pull enough punches that your tutee still gets to make meaningful decisions and see the consequences of them. For example, if they set up a smart cavalry charge, perhaps don’t counter it with a heroic move (even if you could). Reward them for using the mechanics in a smart way – don’t shut them down immediately. Save that for your later games!

On the flip side, neither should you roll over and let them win with no effort. You should be providing engaging scenarios that they have to overcome by using what they’ve learned about the mechanics so far. It’s really rewarding when a first timer starts to understand how to play and how to win, and it shows you’re doing a good job, too!

Also, I wouldn't recommend pointing out all of their tactical blunders, and how you could exploit them - this will only serve to demoralise. I mean, it should go without saying that you will be better at the game than the person who has literally never played before - there is no need to hammer the point home. 

7: Talk things through.

You shouldn’t just be guiding your newbie through their turn – talk through yours, too. Share your own strategy and talk through your options. This has 2 benefits – they will learn more quickly, and it tells your newbie that you’re there to teach, not to win. I’m sure we can all remember a time as kids when someone ‘teaching’ a game pulled a rule out of nowhere that felt made-up and unfair – this is what we need to avoid.  

Throughout your turn, explain the rules you are using, and how they’re letting you achieve your aims:

“I have left my horses more than 6 inches away from your infantry. This is because they can move further than your infantry can, so next turn I guarantee that I’ll be able to charge and can get my charge bonuses.”

And the other side is – have your newbie talk through their own decisions as they play. Once they have a few mechanics under their belt, encourage them to talk about what they’re trying to achieve each turn, and the options available to make it happen. This leads us on to…

8: Show, don’t tell.

It’s really important that you don’t just play their game for them. In order to digest what’s going on, it has to be your newbie that makes their own decisions. Obviously you’ll have to explain any new mechanics, but try to encourage them to use what they’ve already learned under their own initiative. The sooner they start actively making their own decisions, the sooner they’ll get engaged in the game – teaching becomes easier and both parties have more fun.  

9: Keep it consistent.

This one almost goes without saying… But make sure you’re familiar with the rules before you teach somebody the game. Maybe have a flick through the rulebook the week beforehand – especially the basics! We’ve all sat through a tutorial game where the teacher was referring to the rules every 30 seconds, and contradicting themselves frequently. It really kills any momentum or enjoyment – and it doesn’t exactly build confidence that you’re learning the game the correct way.

10: It’s just a game!

The game can be cruel. Dice will betray you and Heroes will fall flat on their faces at the worst possible times. Seasoned tournament players know to take these setbacks on the chin - but your newbie might find it extremely frustrating when Aragorn dies to a nameless orc after losing the duel 5 turns in a row.

The investment in tabletop gaming is high. We get really attached to our little plastic guys, and if your newbie has spent a couple of weeks assembling and painting their brand new Pelennor army, they are probably hoping to see them dominate on the table. As we know, this won’t always be the case.

Losses in tabletop games can be drawn out and disheartening. If your newbie doesn’t have a history with tabletop games, this can be rough. They may get salty. Compare this to video games, where victories and losses often both happen quickly - if you lose a match in a videogame, you can just pick yourself up and jump in to the next one. It's understandable that a newbie might find take a few games to adjust.

The important thing here is to remind your newbie that both players are participants in a shared, interactive storytelling experience – especially if there’s any salt over some duff dice. Yes, there will be a time for skill, mastery and heroic victories, but that's a long way away. During a tutorial game, neither party has anything to prove - all you need to do is enjoy yourselves. If the battle sways one way or the other, that’s just part of the story you’re both telling.

And for an intro game, more than any other: winning or losing doesn't make a damn bit of difference, as long as both players are having fun (and hopefully learning a thing or two along the way)!

 

And that’s it! If all goes according to plan, you’ll have a new player who has a good grasp of the basics and is eager to get stuck in. Watch in amusement as they proceed directly to the nearest game store and spend their last paycheck on a new army. After a few games, it’s probably a good idea for them to read the rulebook properly and get a fuller understanding of the rules, but until then, just throw some dice and have a good time.