Painting Again!!!

Arrrr Feels good!

 Although my life is pretty hectic I feel so much better for having a few days of painting. I think I will try to fit some in no matter how busy things get.

 I think It's good for the soul.

Fun with Orcs!

 Well I have found some time to paint again and wasted no time in bashing out some Orc filth.

These Orcs were painted very quickly using a black wash over simple dark colours. The highlights were kept to a minimum as I wanted the Orc host to look like a black shadow going across the land. Being heavily influenced by the recent LOTR films, I kept the colour palette very dark, almost black.

 

The armour was washed with a black and then a brown to give it a rusty look, metal highlights were then drybrushed lightly on top.

 

 These Magic Metal miniatures mix in well with all my old Citadel figures and help bulk out the numbers. What's that Asgard Dwarf doing there?

Eye eye...

I like the idea of Orcs being a complete rabble so I intend to mix up loads of different figure makes on the bases. I really enjoyed painting these guys and they were so easy compared to the Dwarves. One wash of black and they're done, move on to the next.

Thorin Oakenshield and Company

 The mighty Dwarf, Thorin Oakenshield leads his band of hardy adventurers to the Lonely mountain. The Thorin figure is an old Citadel miniature from their Lord Of The Rings range way back in 1985 (I think). The other Dwarves were chosen from other old Citadel figures and some from the Alternative Armies range. I do like the Alternative Armies Dwarves and they fit very well beside the old Citadel ones.

 Balin with his red hood and long white beard was a must for the adventure party and this old figure just fitted the bill. I think these old mini's are from the Citadel, Fantasy Tribes range way back in 1984. They are my favourite Dwarves I think and have buckets of character in them. I prefer them to the modern huge proportioned figures of more recent times.

 

 Dwalin in green, I gave him a warhammer party because of the recent hobbit film and the troll sequence. The figure is from Alternative Armies, as is the horn blower. After doing lots of research I found that Thorin rushes down into the Battle Of The Five Armies with the sound of a trumpet blast, well after reading that I had to include one on the base.

 

 Painting is stopped as two Black riders stop by to sniff around for somewhere called the Shire...search me.

 

The base for the Dwarves is 60mm x 60mm. This is in keeping with HotT. I plan to base up all of these LOTR themed figures with a 60mm front so that I can use them for other rule sets as well as HotT. I still want to give HotT a go once the armies are ready, but I also love big units and battles and so might try to convert Hail Caesar or Clash of Empires to play a Fantasy game.

Mordor Shield Designs

 Here are some Mordor orc shields and banners I have collected over the last few weeks in preparation of my Mordor army.

 Some of them are lifted straight from the Internet and taken from books and films, however most of them have been made up in true orcy fashion. I wanted them to be simple to paint at 28mm but also I didn't think orcs would spend much time with their artistic abilities.

So the more simple ones will adorn the Snaga and grunts of the warbands, while the more intricate designs are set aside for officers and persons of higher rank.

 

One of my goals is to refight the Battle of the five armies with Bolg and his heavy armoured bodyguard and hordes of orcs and goblins. Mount Gundabad is their home so I've decided to incorporate it into their shield designs. Mount Gundabad is a huge mountain at the end of the Misty mountain range, It has three peaks. I worked up some ideas using the three peaks as a general theme, some incorporate the eye of Sauron.

 I hope these come in handy for anyone creating a Middle Earth army, I know I had a lot of fun drawing them up.