Dragon Rampant Test Game

 As the huge Trolls seemed to waver under the rain on arrows, the small Goblin war parties overtook them and closed on the Elven line. The Elves although out numbered stood like stones amidst a crashing wave. They fought hard and took few causalities but inflicted many. The first attack of the Goblins was repulsed without much lose.

 The Elves stand strong. Swift sword play and cool nerves hold the Goblin battle lines in check.

Although a war party of Goblins had been pushed back they had not lost heart completely and now joined with a second attack wave to finish job. The Elven commander seeing this, moved his companies back into a defensive position.

Dragon Rampant Test Game

 Well, after collecting fantasy armies for the past 30 years or so I was intrigued by the release of a new set of Fantasy rules. I have been toying around with different rules lately in order to refight the battles of Middle Earth and namely, The Battle of the Five Armies. So when I caught wind of this new set I thought lets just have a game and jump straight in. A new Lego table bought on ebay for my little boy seemed like the perfect place to have it too.

I have to say I really enjoyed the rules and the tinkering you can do with the options/skills to create your perfect units is priceless...and very,very addictive be warned.

 In this first test game we kept the unit points basically as they were in the book. Although I like my Elves and Dwarves to be a little more sturdy than Goblins, so will boost their units up with more armour and skills to better reflect their skill and staying power in future games.

Anyway enough gabbing, lets crack on. So my wife and a friend and I all chose companies of Goblins and Elves, I was the Goblins with my wife leading a band of Elves and a great eagle and my friend had two companies of Elves. All archers I may add you can see were this is going can't you.

 The Goblins being sneaky and fast on their feet got off to a racing start, they tore across the plain with shreaks and blood curdling cries that would of frozen all but the Stout hearted. Along with the high pitched din of the Goblins came the low bellows of the trolls, large Olog-Hai from the north carrying huge iron hammers.

 Against them in their companies stood the fair Elven children of Iluvatar. They remained motionless for what seemed an eternity. Even the great Eagle from the Misty Mountains circled high above, reluctant to make the first move. The Goblin chieftain laughed at the folly of Elves as they just stood there, he could see the giant war Trolls were making good ground on them and soon It would be all over.

 Then finally the whole Elven line seemed to spring to life. A volley of arrows leaped into the advancing Trolls, making one of them stumble, the other carried on, only to be hit by a second wave of arrows from the other Elven company. Both Trolls stopped and beat the ground in rage.

The Trolls were soon overtaken by the small bands of Goblins that came scurrying over the grassland crying for blood.

Basing the hordes

 Glaurung: Dragon, first and greatest of the Urukloki. Bred by Morgoth in Angband

 This huge, brooding dragon is in fact a plastic toy I picked up in a garden centre. I liked him because he kind of fitted the description of Glaurung, being large and wingless. If anything, his legs could of done with being a bit shorter but I can live with it. I also did loads of research on line about the colours of Glaurung, the ones that really caught my eye were the black/blue ones, So I used them for my painting guides.

 Elrond and his banner guard.

 Elven companies in battle line.

Elven swordsmen come forward to protect the vulnerable achers.

I've really enjoyed painting and working out my Elf army. I want them to have a grace and organisation that my other forces don't have. Messing around with the formations on the bases helped to create the illusion that the Elven companies were very measured and  disciplined in battle. The first rank steps forward to protect the archers so they can keep up a steady fire. Also putting them in nice neat battle lines helped give the impression that they were highly disiplined.
My Orcs and Goblins are all mounted on bases like little warbands and my Dwarves, although they will be in line, will form a rugged shieldwall type affair. It's great to play around with all the different fighting styles and characteristics from the books.

Dragon Rampant game

Last week I gathered together some figures and actually played a wargame! I know I can't quite believe It myself, anyway I thought the rules were really great fun. It was also great to use my figures that have sat on the shelf for two years gathering dust.

Hopefully baby willing, I will post a more detailed report later and go through the rules in more detail. As for now, I highly recommend them for a  simple, fun game. There is loads of room to let your imagination run wild with this set, which is a must for me.

Spoiler alert:  The picture above pretty much sums up the plight of my Goblin war parties.

Basing Day!

 Last night I finally got my arse into gear and started to base up my growing fantasy armies. It's so easy to get carried away with painting only to realize you haven't actually finished anything for half a year. Time to go back and get the sand out!

 The Five Armies are coming on...

Elven Standards

 Here is another Elven standard to go on the command base.

 WIP standard, I thought it best to paint something twirly on it rather than leave it plain green.

 I like the idea of long Elf standards and this new one is very long, I think it works and should look good fluttering over the heads of the rank and file. This double 'flagger' marks the army command base and should be easy to spot, although the commander himself is yet to be painted.

 Working out the new Elf shield was a challenge, but I decided to go for an all silver shield taken from the 'lay of Gilgalad'.
Sad I know but I sing this to my little boy each night, it's the only song which makes him fall straight to sleep. I sang him 'seek for the sword that was broken' the other night and It woke him up again. Stick to Elven songs for lullaby's you know it makes sense.

The last of the banner bearers, soon they will be gone to return no more.

Bolg Of the North

 WIP of Bolg here with his black maw. For his base I have dug out some large orcs from Black Tree design to act as his bodyguards.

A giant mountain Troll.

Orc Command Base

 Here we see a follow on from the Goblin base, only this time the stone from the garden is a lot bigger. I have taken to keeping an eye out for any weird and wonderful stones on my travels with basing in mind. This one was a case in point, I saw the sharp point and thought it would make a great overhanging rock for a figure.

 Do you want a hand with that shield?

 The join was covered using 'Greenstuff' again which i sculpted using another stone to imprint the putty and make stone marks. I will also add grass and tufts to help blend the two together. It took a bit of time but as he is my new Bolg figure and it should all be worth it.

You can really see the sponge weathering on his axe, I will defiantly be using the technique again. It's made for orcs and their equipment...very orcy.

Goblin Command Base

 I found this hairy orc figure on eBay along with his loyal hammer man and thought they would be great for a command base. The Orc is too small to really make it in the Orc circles so he has tried his luck in the mines and It's worked out for him. Behind him are an assortment of large Goblin spear men to help back him up.

 I tried placing him on a stone from the garden and smoothed over the join with 'greenstuff'. The stone was painted with Foundry grey and washed with a green wash.

 I really like these two because they look like they have a story behind them. Covered in hair they make odd looking Orcs and I like the idea that he was shunned as an outsider, now he's back with murder on his mind and he has some backup too which makes him very dangerous indeed.

Goblin backup

Making Goblin Shields

 The Goblin horde is almost finished and ready for basing.

 I couldn't find any suitable shields for my Goblins on line so decided to make some. I took a leaf out of BigRedBat's book and tried modelling with some coffee stirrers. The result was very 'Goblin' and good fun to make. I also used blobs of Superglue to make nails in the planking. These should dry brush up well.

Trolls and Arrows...

 This Mountain troll from Reaper miniatures is a good match for the GW Lotr troll, for all those out there collecting such armies. It will be nice to add a little variety to the lumbering big folk.

 Here is my finished arrow test using paperclips dabbed with Superglue. I think It works okay and looks fine from a distance. It will also come in handy when I start to model my Dwarven shield wall and Arthurian troops.

 "Bloody handed Elves..."

Painting rusty Orc armour

 I saw this trick while watching some other painters on You tube and thought it would be perfect for these Orcs. it is very simple to do and the results are great.

 When the armour has been dry brushed and washed with a red brown, simply dab on some 'metal' coloured paint with a sponge. Like dry brushing make sure the sponge is not over loaded with paint and the effect is great for rusting metal. I might try the same technique for adding mud etc.

 I had never tried this before and was pleased with the results, you're never too old to learn new tricks and watching You Tube for tips has become a pass time for me.