Games Workshop previewed a few more interesting bits and pieces ahead of pre-orders this weekend during the start of June. Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game fans are in for a treat with a couple of new books and plenty of new miniatures.

Armies of Middle-earth // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

Leading the way is the new Armies of Middle-earth supplement. This comes with 130 unit profiles and twenty-eight army lists for using a variety of forces not found within the Armies of The Lord of the Rings and Armies of The Hobbit. This gives you updates for a variety of classic miniatures and updates them for the new edition of the game as well as offering the chance to run armies which don't appear directly in the movies.

Fans of Matched Play will also be able to get their hands on the new Matched Play Guide for the new edition.

Matched Play Guide // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

Within, you'll find twenty-four scenarios, six of them brand new, all designed to introduce challenging scenarios for both veterans and beginners. You will also find details for running campaigns, doubles events, team events and more. You will also find more double scenarios, which allow you to play through some big battles.

New Miniatures

When it comes to new miniatures, there are plenty which have been previewed over the past few months and now pre-orders will let you get a bunch of them to use in your games.

Hera, Daughter of Helm // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

Leading the way, we have the heroine of the War of the Rohirrim films, Hera. She comes with a foot and a mounted version in a new plastic set that will allow you to play out her adventures as she battles alongside her father and brothers against the usurpers to Rohan's throne and the wild men of the hills.

Switching to the era of The Lord of the Rings, you can also pick up one of the heroic knights of Dol Amroth that fought alongside the men of Minas Tirith during The War of the Ring.

Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

Prince Imrahil has long been available in metal, but he will now get a brand new plastic figure armed with sword or lance and his hefty shield bearing the swan, a symbol of his home. He looks suitably heroic and will no doubt carry that through into games of the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game.

Keeping with The War of the Ring, you could unleash the river upon Orthanc with the new Forge World Resin miniature for Beechbone, The Ent.

Beechbone, The Ent // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

With an intense hatred for Orcs, Goblins and Uruk-Hai, he is going to be a dangerous foe for the Forces of Evil to contend with. He is shown with a boulder at the ready to crush tiny fiends and show Saruman who's boss.

If you're going to be taking down big creatures like Beechbone, you might want a Ballista and you can get one of those for the Corsairs of Umbar.

Corsairs of Umbar Ballista // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

This is another of the new Forge World miniatures that you'll be able to pick up for use in your armies. Designed to sit on the back of ships or be lugged onto the battlefield to shoot down charging cavalry, this could be a nifty trick up your sleeve to finish off the forces of Good.

Last but not least is a new plastic miniatures for those diving into The Hobbit.

Bolg, Spawn of Azog // Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game

Whilst not the nicest of designs in the movie, the actual miniature is pretty nice looking and does a good job with the villain who pops up in Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies. As with a lot of the characters we're seeing here, he gets a mounted and on foot version for you to use in your games.

If you'd like to learn more about the characters that you see here, Games Workshop put together an article today looking at some of the rules you should expect to see from not just them but other forces coming in the new Armies of Middle-earth supplement.

Are you going to be picking up these new miniatures or the new books? Maybe both?