I just read this preview article on the german publisher site.

http://www.heidelbaer.de/einzelansicht-spiel/spiel/der_herr_der_ringe_lcg_khazad_dum_erweiterung-1/

If it turns out to be true, why haven´t we heard from FFG??

The Hobbit - Over Hill and Under Hill Expansion
The Lord of the Rings – The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill contains three new scenarios that follow the adventures recorded in The Hobbit, the classic novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Setting off from the Shire, Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield,?and the company of Dwarves are pitted against Trolls, Goblins, and the riddling creature known as Gollum. In addition to these immersive scenarios, Over Hill and Under Hill also includes new heroes, treasures, and a variety of player cards that increase the customization options of the game.

i wont hold my breath.....................seems a little far fetched

saying that when i properly wake up i may be a little more excited

ps the link isnt really showing anything on the site

The link worked earlier but don't work anymore, the article has been removed...

ohhh perhaps some trurth may be in it- dont be surprised if this is removed too - of course it could be april fools...

Taking down the article so quickly could prove the point of an mistake by the publisher....

Found another site mentioning it.

Seems like they released the news too early. When they realized it they did put it back. Seems legit, so say hooray for more hobbits.

very good....so weve got this cycle, then another, then that one?

Hobbits galore !

This would be one sweet deal indeed...hobbit specific card are awesome, but the pool of hobbit heroes and especially allies is kinda small (no pun intended). At last, we will witness the might of an all-hobbit fellowship ;-)

im looking forward to fatty

Why are we thinking December? There will have to be another big-box expansion in mid summer? I would wager that this is it. I know the folks who run modern myths (who posted the second link), so I will ask them where they got their info.

This would be hecka awesome if true! Can't wait.

I would also guess, if this is true, that this would be the next deluxe box expansion, after the Dwarrowdelf cycle is complete.

Not only hobbits but dwarf heroes as well. I understand most of the party is already present in one form or another, but I wouldn't mind seeing a hero version of every dwarf that went on that treasure hunt. Maybe even more Gandalf? Smaug as a monster? More men of Dale? Fillibustering trolls until the sun comes up?

Where can I sign up?

If the preview is correct, they must have got a license for the hobbit. Also, it would make much more sense to release the deluxe in december when the film comes out. So there should be another deluxe before that.

I could even imagine this to be an additional deluxe expansion.....

....also includes new heroes, treasures.....

Could this mean a new kind of game mechanic or card type???

muemakan said:

I think their license already covered The Hobbit, what with a few of the character's that were really only from that book and not in the trilogy (most of the cards related to Beorn and I know there are a couple of others but I am drawing a complete blank at the moment).

Also I could have sworn I read an article somewhere on the Fantasy Flight website stating that their license covered it...

"© 2011 Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced without specific permission. Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and the characters, items, events and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprisesand are used, under license, by Fantasy Flight Games. Fantasy Flight Games, Fantasy Flight Supply, and the FFG logo are trademarks of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved to their respective owners." (my bold)

- I would say the license covers the Hobbit (though the fact we have characters from it in the game already would suggest they do)

Fantastic news if it's real, that would really be a great end to the year!

The alleged title of the gameset is the title for Chapter 4 of the Hobbit too, nice touch

This would be really neat! I'm reading The Hobbit again right now (it's been about 5 years). I've been amazed at how much stuff from the Shadows of Mirkwood cycle really came from The Hobbit. From that perspective, do you think they could do a whole cycle based on The Hobbit? And I thought the time-frame was limited to after the Hobbit, so seeing Smaug would be improbable. But I see no reason why they couldn't have us attack one of Smaug's relatives. that could be cool.

As far as the timing goes, it seems like this would have to be the next deluxe expansion or the it wouldn't come out until next year, right? I mean, in April we should get part 3 of Dwarrodelf, then May, June, July for the rest. I assume there will be a month or two break after that, but even if there isn't, you'd see an expansion in August, followed by September, October, November -- and then we'd be in the middle of a cycle in December, and I doubt they'd interrupt it with this expansion. I'm thinking this one will come out in September and they'll keep the APs focused on the Hobbit to build momentum before the movie and still have new products after the movie.

It'd be interesting, but it wouldn't fit the current timeline of the game's story (insofar as one exists). Characters like Thorin are already long dead by the time "our heroes" chase down Gollum, enter Khazad-Dum, etc. Personally, I could care less about the FFG story--I mean, we're basically a bunch of glorified errand boys at this point--but it would present a narrative challenge for Nate and Lukas. Perhaps they could cast each of the Hobbit scenarios as tales recounted by Bilbo?

richsabre said:

Aren't we all, in one way or another.

Sorry for the confusion, I know they can use characters from The Hobbit but I thought it was stated they can only cover the time between the books.

And for their timeline:

As I understand it, they plan to release 12 APs and 2 Deluxe expansions each year ( more or less )

They are still a little behind. It seems Dwarrodwelf should finish around june and the next cycle starts around july.

But as they receive the whole cycle as once from china they can adjust the time between each AP of the same cycle quite good.

I still think we will see the elves in june and the hobbits in december.

To release a "The Hobbit" themed expansion in December would be a perfect move from a marketing standpoint, as part one of the film will be coming out then as well. (Oh, geez! I'm so excited for that!!)

muemakan, I hope you're right though, because I would love to see more Elves in between.

It just seems a little odd that they would announce a december expansion to distributers before they announce a summer expansion. the box set after next will be on stores in time for the holiday season.

I wonder if it will just be a delux expansion or a hybrid to bring in new customers attracted by the movie. I would think that there will be some repeats of characters, but maybe as new cards? If a hybrid, it could be tricky for FFG to please both new blood and the current players.

I would like to see some pre-Party Bilbo adventures. He has the right amount of sneaky adventurer in him to be interesting.

tom

twm47099 said:

THIS!!! This is good stuff here. After all it was made a point that "the Baggins's have always been troublemakers." It stands to reason that both Bilbo and Frodo have been in a few "adventures" until their EPIC adventures.

One of my guys at the store SAID this box is supposed to be as big as the Core Adventure set for precisely the same reasons mentioned above that I will not reiterate here.

Unfortunately he has a bad habit of hearing what they want to hear and spreading it as Canon. He was supported in the fact that FFG did spill the beans about the said set and it will indeed be Hobbit focused.

I personally assume that means you will be able to build better Hobbit decks like Kazad-Dum did for Dwarves and will be about the same size. Not in fact that you will be able to play through the story of The Hobbit. Others have attempted to kill Smaug so I would assume we will see him in much the same role as we see the Balrog currently. In essence a force to be survived rather than defeated.

Just my thoughts and musing and lending another source that has heard this rumor.

Dwnhmcntryboy said:

Say, that's not a bad idea!

Looks like an April's Fool article to me...