It is definitely not a chit style wargame, but like you say has military mechanics with battles and sieges. I think the hunt/FSP location mechanism is pretty good for what it is trying to mimic.
Yeah. It may go beyond (as with SPI's WotR) a military focus though. An equally important
factor is, like Axis & Allies, it feels as though it is outside the hobby of wargaming - many
wargamers may enjoy it, but it has more popularity outside the hobby.
But, as mentioned elsewhere, ASL's segmentation opens it to that same kind of criticism.
Overall it is a pretty great game with the event cards/battle cards choices, hunt part, companions and battles/sieges. A lot of nuances in top play.
It's probably the best mix for a Tolkien based game I've seen. I think I still prefer the
ICE Fellowship of the Ring, but that's because it focuses so heavily on the feeling
of the characters' quest. The whole military side is left out of it.