In 1968 I was in 8th grade—Mrs. Kilbain’s Language Arts class. We still got those Scholastic Book orders. You know, the ones your nine-year old gives you to look over and pick out a book or two a few times a year. There in my book order was J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in paperback. A year before I read in Tiger Beat or some other noxious teen mag that Mickey Dolenz was a Tolkien fanatic and wore a Frodo Lives t-shirt (you remember Dolenz, the drummer for the Monkeys.) My parents let me order the trilogy. By the end of 9th grade, the books were worn out with re-reading. It was 1969, I was fourteen years old, had played several Avalon Hill game, but had yet to touch a historical miniature.

Why is this important? I hope to create a context for understanding the dilemma Tolkien creates for some historical wargamers. I don’t mean for this article to be a review of his work. However, the chronological organization of his tales, the detailed descriptions of his cultures, the epic scope of his battles combine with all the elements of good storytelling to create a vision of a history as rich as that which we find in the real world. I’ve always thought that Tolkien’s battles were every bit as interesting and compelling as any historical battle I’ve discovered, I’ve always wanted to build Middle Earth armies, I’ve purchased the figures, I’m doing the re-reading, and going ahead with the project. I know some of you are holding your noses at this point, but hear me out. The real dilemma is in proceeding with a project that will doubtless bring down the opprobrium of one’s peers, but I’m going ahead anyway because it’s so cool. On the other hand, of the 80+ surveys that were returned to us, over fifty percent indicated that the attendee, some well known to me, played fantasy and sci fi games as well as historical miniatures.

For those living under a rock, who either have not read Tolkien’s stories, or missed the very good movie adaptation by Peter Jackson, Tolkien’s best known work is The Lord of the Rings. It is a story set in the third age of what is called Middle Earth. In the collection books, half-finished stories and manuscripts published since Tolkien’s death in 1973, we know that this is a story lifted from a painstakingly crafted chronology written over a lifetime, from the creation of the world, the introduction of evil into the world, the various struggles between the forces of good and evil, and evil’s banishment from Middle Earth. It is a history, of a sort, complete with dates, places, and maps. There are titanic battles—The Battle of Unnumbered Tears, The War of Wrath, The Fields of Celebrant, The Battle of the Pelennor Fields. These big battles are described no less vividly than Marathon, Issus, Zama, or Adrianople as set down by the classical historians.

In addition to the historical organization of Tolkien’s work, he did a remarkable job of creating a cultural distinctiveness for the peoples of Middle Earth. The men of Rohan seem an awful lot like Anglo Saxons, despite their love of horses. The people of Gondor are proud and noble with a long history, but faded and awaiting the end of their time, rather like the Byzantines after Manzikert. There are the evil Southrons, men of Harad, horsemen with scimitars, lances and elephants. Okay, I know there are elves, orcs, dwarves, the odd dragon and spider too, and some magic, but we are not asked to suspend belief often, and the richness of the narrative brings conviction to the tale. Thus, it is easy to choose a favorite army to build, as one would with any historical period. I am a sucker for the horse lords of Rohan, but then again, I really like Ostrogoths. Perhaps Goths for Rohirrim might work.

I have decided to game the battles of Middle Earth, once again crossing over to the dark side—but I would argue that I have one foot over each side of the line. First, I have chosen 15mm figures to fight big battles, rather than the GW skirmish stuff available at $7.99 a copy (!!@#%&*) Wherever possible I am using historical figures. Yes, there is that orc, dwarf, elf, etc., problem, but in preparing or my first major action I am using Essex’s new Dark Ages cavalry figures, mounted and dismounted for Rohan cavalry, and Essex Vikings for their infantry. Rohan’s Dunland enemies are described as nothing less than Ancient British with their chariots and wild appearance. My men of Harad will be a combination of Sassanid and Achmaenid Persians from Old Glory. The non-human races, well, we won’t go into that, but I’ve heard it said that orcs are just highlanders without kilts.

Rules

There are lots of usable rules. Back in 1978 when I bought my first ancients army list to be used with WRG edition whatever, armies for Middle Earth and other fantasy realms were appended in the back of the book. I use Ed Teixeira’s Warrior Heroes rules because it includes rules for terror and magic, and I am familiar with the system. I changed the figure scale to equal 100 men per stand, because I want lots of figures. If I did the nasty Mordor army at Pelennor Fields, that would mean about 450 stands. So far I’ve painted 8. I have a ways to go. More traditional rules sets, such as DBA or DBM could also be adapted for Middle Earth Battles. Luke Ueda-Sarson’s DBM homepage, located at www.ritsumei.ac.jp/se/~luv20009/Luke's_1st_page.html. is devoted to DBM and DBx games, mostly historical, but he has Middle Earth army lists, and “historical” scenarios from all ages of Middle Earth.

I find that Tolkien’s Middle Earth is a compelling mix of fantasy and history, albeit history of an alternative nature. With good modeling and scenario-making, a Middle Earth game could be as interesting as any ancients game, and just as much fun to play. I hope to have my first game, based on The Battle of the Fords of Isen (The Unfinished Tales) ready for Breakthrough, but for certain by Enfilade.