I haven't played at all for almost two years, but am toying with the idea of starting again. Just got a few questions though to get up to date:

How have the new Hobbit rules effected tournaments? Are Elves still popular? Is shooting now redundant? Have monsters become more prominent?

Is there likely to be a new rulebook out with the Desolation of Smaug?

A more subjective question, but what's the general consensus concerning warbands? I used them a little, but wasn't particularly fond of them and preferred Legions of Middle Earth.

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"There are few left in Middle Earth like Aragorn, son of Arathorn." - Gandalf, Many Meetings

Not being a competitive player, i can't answer your first questions (I'll leave that to someone more qualified) but I can say that i tried the Warbands system and found it lacking, and so now I just ignore it. It might have worked if different characters had a command stat or something that indicated the number of troops they could lead, but as is it was far too restrictive for my tastes.

I would say that shooting with regular, hunter orcs and goblins is near pointless unless you are defending a position.

Elves now have Rivendell knights and are going to get a whole lot of new stuff, so I suspect that we will see a lot more of them at the G.W. tournament as I believe that doubles will bite the dust next year, however we have the great British Hobbit league to look forward to.

The monster rules are brilliant and massively enhance the game.

So the prodigal son returns...

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My Lotr backlog: 305/952[][][][][][][][][][]32% completed
Painting Lineup: Mumakil x2, Rohan Heroes x8, Haradrim, SKoDA

Nice to see some of the oldies around here. Miss those days.
Unfortunately I haven't played in a good while, especially not tournaments.

Elves are still popular from what I can tell, and more will be released with Thranduil and the Battle of Five Armies in upcoming films.
The new rules have provided several buffs for monsters, whether this was just GW's attempt to shift some stock, and whether people actually use them more often I cannot comment.
Latest Rumours suggest there will NOT be a new rulebook, just a profile supplement, but as always take with a pinch of salt.

As a player who has tried nearly every evolution of the game, I have to say I liked LOME from a thematic perspective, as there are now no rules concerning allies bar Good vs. Evil.
However, as far as I am concerned, Warbands appears to be just another part of the natural evolution of the game, and I know it spiced it up for a lot of people. I suppose it is thematic in it's own way, as it helps to include more of the prominent heroes in armies rather than just generic captains leading hundreds of troops. I certainly like the new challenges it brings to list building, and it certainly gives you opportunities to have a background for each warband, without them being tied down with each other on the tabletop.

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Sun is by sea-men always hoped for,
when they fare away over the fishes' bath,
until the brine-stallion they bring to land.
OERP

Personally I LOVE the new monster rules! Before monsters were frankly pedestrian and now they can reek hakov in a variety of fun ways!