Colours 2025

well we did it again and what a great day it was too. The armies of good and evil faced off against eachother under the shadow of the Lonely mountain. It was a very close run thing again, but like the book, the forces of the Free peoples triamphed...just.

There were less people to help run the game this time, but the decision was made to shorten it slightly and run it at a more leisurely pace. This suited me as was still learning the rules.

Where is Bilbo?

The battle in full swing. It was so nice to meet and chat to people about the game and figures. Lots of people asked what make the orcs were, but of course there was no short answer to that one. It was also nice to meet and chat to gamers that had seen this blog and come along to see me. That was a real treat for me and made all this hard work worthwhile, thankyou.

Bard and the Men of Lake town hold the left spur of the mountain.

The wolves and Wargs pour onto the plains and surge up the mountain. The Men of Lake town brace themselves for the baying waves of razor sharp teeth.

Bard and his banner men.

 

Picture by James Morris.

 I had the last minute idea of taking my hood along for a laugh. I made this thing back in 1994 from an old blanket. It is crude but did remind me of Lake town. In fact, I'm sure it helped to influence some of my hood colours for the units when I was painting them. It was quite hot work by the end of the day, but it was nice to dig it out again after all these years.

Picture by James Morris.

Beorn tearing into a host of goblin Warfare riders.

It was interesting to see the different outcomes of the two games. Bard managed to survive this second battle, but the greatest warrior of the age, Dain, was cut down fighting Bolg in single combat.

Thorin Oakenshield managed to reach an exhausted formation of Dwarves and bring them back into the fight. Now that the Dwarves were steady again, Thorin threw himself at the huge goblin and finally brought him down. Dain had been avenged at last.

It was a great ending to a great day. By the end of the day I actually felt like I had fought in the battle myself. I was knackered, who knew a woollen hood could weigh so much after five hours.

Elven King of Mirkwood

 

Basing Middle Earth Again...

I know I always repeat myself in my hobby ramblings, so I will show my technique for basing again while I do it.

I start off with sticking small stones and pebbles to the base. I always look for for interesting textures and shapes, knowing they will be washed and dry brushed later.

This time I went for a cheaper option and dug out two hobby craft paints. Most of these were bought for £1 in a Hobbycraft clearance sale... bargain.

 

The guy was fun to do although he was very detailed. I just had to start somewhere and started blocking in colours. After this I added washes to the various objects. 

I was really pleased to finally get the chance to do a bottle of Red wine using the Tamiya transparent paints.

This was done by painting the bottle a light colour with highlights added. Then painting it with the green transparent paint. When this was dry, I used the red version to paint half a bottle of wine. Over the top of this I added another layer of the green and the results are very effective. Being really glossy, no varnish was needed,

 It was very rewarding to do as I think it's the first time I've done it.

Next on the basing ladder is adding some moss to the rocks once the two layers of gray are dry. These are just tiny dots of yellow applied with a brush in random patches.

After this to tie everything together and complete the fantasy look, I added a wash of Woodland scenics green. This stuff is great when watered down and acts like an ink.

Once the green is dry I added a brown wash again made from Woodland scenics range.

Next up is the actual basing material. I used to glue and then paint sand. This was a real hassle because the the paint would get all over the figures. These days I use Luke's APS Arid mix to cover the bases. This is so much easier and quicker than painting grit.

In the old days I used to swear by using wood glue to stick down the basing. It was white so you could see any gaps easily and it dried rock hard. The latter ended up being the problem, it was almost impossible to get the lid off after a few basing sessions. I tried everything, even pliers to crank the top off. In the end I gave up and went back to PVA. I had forgotten just how nice and easy it was to use. No more tools to get the lid off etc. The results are nice and strong too so I'm not quite sure why I switched in the first place. Lesson learnt.

There are a nice range of stone sizes in the mix so the results is very realistic looking.

The larger stones blend into the basing mix nicely.

After a few patches of static grass, I add some mixed herbs with tny leaves mixed in.

The final thing to do is to add some grass tufts. These are great for adding some extra colour to the bases. The Elven bases got some nice autumnal browns and whites. Even the dark Orc bases looked good with the odd white flower dotted around.

Four new bases of Elves, the golden flowers will help to tie all the units together.

The giant Goblin is the new lord of Moria. His bright red banner will mark him out on the rocky slopes. He also carries two large standards to mark his importance.

The Elven King arrives under his green banner. I'll have to base him up tomorrow night after work... Saturday is getting very close indeed. I just need to tweak the bards eyes before flock the base.

The greedy Master keeps his beedy eye on his gold.