WizKids have turned their hand to some rather successful games of late. Both their Quarriors and Mage Knight games have been hits across the board (forgive the pun!) and they are hoping to follow up that with the soon to be released The Lord of the Rings: Dice Building Games...

Renowned game designers Eric Lang and Mike Elliott have teamed up for this game which allows you to assemble an army from the free peoples of Middle-Earth and fight back against the forces of darkness, all with dice!

"“Fans of Quarriors will readily recognize the dice building mechanic…but The Lord of the Rings Dice Building Game explores a few key elements that make it an entirely new experience out of the box,” said Mike Elliott.

Eric Lang described the final design as “very exciting… To be able to use the dice building engine and weave in the rich tapestry of characters, locations, weapons and more that make up the world of Middle-earth was a great challenge.  Jeph Stahl and Brett Myers, who worked on the set, did a great job.”"

Quarriors was at once a frustrating and enjoyable game, but it will be interesting to see how they have changed that to fit with the themes of Lord of the Rings.

If you are unfamiliar with the Quarriors system, it simply involves drawing from a bag of dice, rolling them and then spending and attacking according to the results. It's then a matter of culling dice to make your next draw more effective, much like any deck building game with cards.

I particularly like the interesting 'corruption' aspect put forward in this game where your forces might turn to the forces of Sauron!

It should be available on shelves in your local gaming store January 2013.

Are you looking forwards to this?