North of the Shire
Welcome to North of the Shire, a podcast where we discuss the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game by Games Workshop, the Lord of the Rings in general and other sundry gaming topics. We will discuss all aspect of the game and the hobby. Favorite topics are new releases, army lists, competitive play, miniature painting, and terrain.
Our four hosts are all active players in the OSBGL,the Ontario Strategy Battle Game League in Ontario, Canada and occasionally travel to international events.
email: [email protected]
- Update frequency
- every 25 days
- Average duration
- 106 minutes
- Episodes
- 53
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2024
Episode 33 – Battle Companies Tournament
Garrett and Don discuss their time at a recent Battle Companies tournament. Some unique scoring mechanics, and it’s greater focus on narrative play, make this a very welcome break from the standard M…
Episode 32 – Flotsam and Jetsam
Andrew and Don catch up after a short hiatus. Don talks about hobby stuff while Andrew postulates on how awesome the new Dragon Emperor is going to be. Garrett then joins Don to recap their time at …
Episode 31 – FAQ, A New Meta is Born
Andrew and Don discuss highlights of the new FAQ and how they will affect the competitive meta. Other topics include the 3D printed miniatures and play-testing new army lists and Legendary Legions.
Episode 30 - Reigning over Lords of Battle
Are you interested in learning how to win at Lords of Battle? If you are, join Andrew and Don for the definitive analysis of Lords of Battle. They assess all the different ‘army types’ in this miss…
Episode 29 – Gazing into Galadriel’s Mirror for 2022
For the first time all four of our hosts make an appearance in this episode as we gaze into Galadriel’s mirror. I know, exciting right? Well anyway.... We look back into 2021 and try to look into …
Episode 28 – Standing your Ground in Hold Ground
In this episode Andrew and Don take a close look at the Hold Ground mission. They rate how the different army types perform in this mission depending on if they win or lose priority on turn one. Of…
Episode 27: Surviving To The Death
Andrew and Don take a deep dive into the matched play scenario To The Death. They also discuss their recent hobby activity and in ‘What Have I got in my Pocket’, they touch of the new Vanquishers Le…
Ep 26 – Anniversary! Oath Bound, an MESBG story
Andrew and Don celebrate the one year anniversary of North of the Shire. They’ve also collected all the sections to their Oath Bound, MESBG narrative story, into one place and added the final instal…
Episode 25 – Dominating Domination
In this episode, Andrew and Don discuss the matched play scenario Domination. Don talks about returning to a tournament after an 18 month hiatus. Plus another installment of their original narrativ…
Episode 24 – Where Art Thou, Saruman & Gandalf
In this episode, Andrew and Don discuss the whereabouts of Evil Saruman and Gandalf the Grey in the MESBG meta....Where art thou Saruman and Gandalf? Plus another exciting segment of the TBD Chronic…
Ep 23 – Aragorn, King Elessar and other Top Tier Heroes
Andrew and Don discuss four kings, and all of them top tier heroes: King Elessar, The Witch- King of Angmar, Thror and The Goblin King. They also answer a listener question about designing scenarios…
Ep 22 – Isengard, King of the Micro Warband
In this episode Andrew and Don discuss the mysterious micro warband. Join them as they build a micro warband army using the Isengard faction, the best in the business.
In the All that is Gold Does n…
Ep 21 – Silver Medalist’s - Tauriel, Balin & The Shade
In this episode Andrew and Don discuss the Silver Medalist’s, the Mid-Tier heroes of MESBG. Rather than taking an analytical approach to the topic they discuss six popular heroes in this bracket: Ta…
Episode 20 – The Combined Arms Army Build
The Combined Arms Army Build is up for discussion in this episode. If you like big heroes, wizards, rank and file troops, archers, cavalry, and siege engines, then this is the army for you.
In the …
Episode 19 – Low Tier Heroes
Andrew and Don discuss Low Tier Heroes of MESBG. Who are they, why take them and how are they used in armies? They visit their regular segments All that is Gold Does not Glitter and What Have I got…
Episode 18 – Building Lurtz’s Scouts
Garrett makes an appearance on the show for the first time to discuss the army he’s building for our North of the Shire Army Challenge – Lurtz’s Scouts. We discuss the list, his army build, as well …
Episode 17 - The Mobile Army Type
In this episode Andrew and Don talk about the Mobile army type. These are fast moving armies that are commonly ‘all mounted’. Along with this we discuss such important issues as dressing up as a dw…
Episode 16 – Tolkien Beginnings
In this episode Andrew and Don answer the question, ‘has shooting has become too strong in the game’. They also discuss their favorite army special rules, Shelob and Andrew asks Don to describe his …
Episode 15 – The Leaf Blower Army Type
In this episode Andrew and Don talk about the Leaf Blower army type. Armies designed to shoot their opponent off the table. Can you say Rangers of ....???? We also discuss our ‘guilty pleasure’ mo…
Episode 14 – Legendary Legions
In this episode Andrew and Don discuss the MESBG Legendary Legions. What’s the concept of the legendary legions? Will they eventually become ‘too much of a good thing’? What impact will Legendary L…