Iron Hills Dwarf

Here is an dwarf warrior from the Iron Hills, a tough veteran of many battles .

This drawing is based on the description in the Hobbit book. He wields a two handed heavy war mattock and carries a round shield on his back. Also on his back he carries a large bag of food and supplies. His beard is tucked into his belt and he wears a long mail hauberk down to his knees. On his back under his shield he carries a short board bladed sword. I have also given him a small axe for close work.

The Asgard Dwarf figures match this look to a tee, even the bags of supplies and the round shields on the back. I have given my Dwarf a helmet like the Asgard miniatures and I think it still looks in character.

 LOTR is set in an alternative Dark Ages so lots of chain mail, scale mail and leather work, even Peter Jackson couldn't resist the look of plate armour in his films. Still great films though and so I forgive him.

Elf vs Wolf

  Wolves attacking their hated elven foe.

 Most of these wolves are from Ral partha and are a good size. I have put 5 on a base ( each of my bases regardless of rule system I want to have 6 wounds and attacks. Dragon Rampant actually matches this nicely...lucky for me) So the extra attack I have put down to the lightning reactions of the snapping wolves.
Again the extra wound can be put down to a savage leader with two wounds on the base.  So a unit is made out of two of these bases together making a unit of ten wolves. In the book they say six beasts per unit but I like my packs to actually look like packs. Once the six wounds have been used the other four wolves will just melt away into the darkness again. This I think feels right and gives a nice flavour to the wolf units.

What the hell happened here? This was all tidy last week... I'm out of time tonight more on this later. Bye for now.

Wolf Auxilaries

 The White Warg listens to a scout under a full moon.

 Here is a Warg leading a small wolf pack. I plan to dot these 'extra' Wargs around in the wolf ranks as if they are officers keeping the packs in order.

 The paint job on these figures is very quick and simple, dry brushing heaven in fact. I undercoated them grey first and then dry brushed them in darker colours and white for the underparts and legs. The grey undercoat shows through the dark greys on the upper coat and the wolf pelt effect is achieved. I also added brown washes to the coats and faces of the wolves, Reference books are a must when painting these critters. I also gave them bright yellow eyes that shine out of black eye sockets to help give them a chilling stare.

The Wargs and wolves have the ability to cross rough ground without compromising their movement rate in Dragon Rampant. This in mind, I made their bases really overgrown and tangled with plants and rocks, hinting at the wolves using broken ground to gain advantage on their enemies.

Warg Army

 The wolves of the mountains have been brought to bay by the Warg packs. They now stream down the mountain paths into the lowlands to join the gathering army of Bolg.

 An eagles eye view as he keeps track of the merging packs.

Here the White Warg leads from the front, the smaller she wolf next to her is a scout reporting the latest enemy movements. She is separated from the others by her grey wolf pelt, the others all being Wargs have black coats. Some of the older ones have grey muzzles.

The Warg pack. The figures are from all over the place, most of the large Wargs are from Reaper Miniatures. The smaller wolves are made from a collection of Ral Partha, Reaper and various other unknown makes found on ebay.

The Trouble with Painting Goblins

Painting Goblins is a very tricky business, It's best to get the right tools for the job way in advance. Always try to paint your Goblins in twos and threes, any more than that in one go will be a struggle and is not advised.

Found these old pictures while clearing out my computer, may they serve as a warning to fellow painters who don't research their subject thoroughly.

Nick Lund Hobgoblin

This is a quick sketch of one of Nick Lund's 'Hobgoblins' from the late Eighties. They are simple and quite crude in design, but I have found they do make great Uruk Hai within the lesser Orc ranks.

 Their large square frames with apish long arms lends them very well to the descriptions in Tolkien's books. I find the ones with covered heads work the best, not a big fan of Orcs with Mahicans.

These are early sculpts and you can see the progression in Nick's work as the years went on. I have a bunch that will be mixed into the Uruk Hai ranks to lend some weight to the army.

Black Uruk

This Picture shows the the size difference between the soldier orcs and Black Uruk beserkers. They will truly terrify the enemy, Mind you, Dwarves are tough buggers and don't scare that easily. I can't wait to get on to Dain and his Iron Hills Army.