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So my last blog kinda sunk by my own fault, I should have known that I was far too busy to maintain it, however life has achieved some order so I thought I'd try again and split my 40k and LOTR intentions for clarity.


So why LOTR? Well Imho I think is the best balanced system that GW have and that the fights are far more realistic than either 40k for whfb cos if your fighting a similarly skilled dude then of course it could take a while to resolve the scrap.

I have 3 armies going for LOTR at the present. Gondor, Moria and Angmar, 500pts of each just about. For now I'll post some Angmar shenanigans

So here's the list that at present I am/will be using as I am short of a few models ( thank god pay day is round the corner )

Warband 1: 158pts

Orc Captain w/ shield (20%)
8 Orc w/ shield (50%)
3 Orc w/ 2h weapon (75%)
1 Orc w/ standard (60%)

Warband 2: 92pts

Orc Shaman (0%)
6 Orc w/ spear (60%)

Warband 3: 125pts

Barrowight (70%)
5 Spectre's (70%)

Warband 4: 125pts

Barrowight (70%)
5 Spectre's (60%)

This is 500 pts on the dot with a break point of 16.

Each percentage represents the progress of my army and how much it is built/painted/based. 0% means I don't have the mini's yet.

I chose it out of sheer disruption value and in truth is quite a hardy and intimidating force. So here's what I got and my current progress:



My spectre's, a lot of fun to play with, terror causing, high defence, can possess people and attack the courage! Dwarves? What dwarves? Also a joy to paint



My Orcs w/ shields to form the front of my battle line (one is missing from the picture).



My Orcs w/ spear to support the guys with shields.



And my 'support' Orcs, to provide more killy on the flanks and for those essential re-rolls

Really enjoying painting this force at the moment, very unusual colour for orcs I know but I have always wanted a purple army lol. The banner is the most fun as I am building up the purple to make them into wings with a slightly 3D effect, you can just see it beginning. The wings are there because this is actually gonna be a warband for Gulahvar at 700pts so really it is his personal raiding party.

I have actually painted at least the basecoat of everyone's skin since and done some highlight's. The skin on the spectre's is obviously way more developed but that's because they are the most fun to paint

Well that's it for the first installment folks, will do all I can around work, revision and my lady to keep it coming

C&C more than welcome and most importantly: take it easy folks...

Hey, I actually like a lot of the rules for LoTR! It was my first real Skirmish sort of game... other than Heavy Gear I guess.

Anyway.

They look good so far! LoTR models can be a real pain in the ass to paint, being just a slightly smaller scale than the more typical 28mm Heroic stuff. Particularly cloth on the plastic models, since it seems to just blend in with the rest of the stuff.

The Spectre's look good! Getting those eyes dotted with that 'dead' look really makes em' creepy, and the blue flesh goes well with the rest of it.

You seem to be going pretty heavy on the Ghosts. That should keep things interesting. I haven't played since I sold my Easterlings... but looking at some of the new models I might get back into it. Maybe a small warband or something.

Bah, too much on my plate right now. I'll just watch your blog instead. >.<

yeah,
Great start and I love the spectres.
The orc spectre looks particularly great .

I'm a big fan of your purple scheme. it never occured to me to paint outsidethe box
I painted my goblins just like the book... I might steal your scheme!

Panic

Wow, thanks for stopping by so soon!!

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:Hey, I actually like a lot of the rules for LoTR! It was my first real Skirmish sort of game... other than Heavy Gear I guess.

Anyway.

They look good so far! LoTR models can be a real pain in the ass to paint, being just a slightly smaller scale than the more typical 28mm Heroic stuff. Particularly cloth on the plastic models, since it seems to just blend in with the rest of the stuff.

The Spectre's look good! Getting those eyes dotted with that 'dead' look really makes em' creepy, and the blue flesh goes well with the rest of it.

You seem to be going pretty heavy on the Ghosts. That should keep things interesting. I haven't played since I sold my Easterlings... but looking at some of the new models I might get back into it. Maybe a small warband or something.

Bah, too much on my plate right now. I'll just watch your blog instead. >.<

Thanks man

Yeh they can be a real pain in the butt, especially with eyes being minute. Painting the Orc's eyes will almost make me shed man tears....

Ghost heavy all the way mate. There is no way that for every spectre I have the chance to control the enemy if they fail a courage test ( and with most troops being courage 3) I would give that up!! And sculpts are some of the best in the range imo.

Get it going mate! Well worth a dabble and a few hours here or there but feel free to stop by and chat all the same

Panic wrote:yeah,
Great start and I love the spectres.
The orc spectre looks particularly great .

I'm a big fan of your purple scheme. it never occured to me to paint outsidethe box
I painted my goblins just like the book... I might steal your scheme!

Panic

Cheers dude. I did favour the elven spectre sculpt to begin with but the orc has gradually become much more fun to paint, there is just that extra bit of character to it.

Don't worry my goblins are by the book too and they will soon be up here with their ugly mugs

By all means sir, the purpleness awaits!!

Blue orcs eh? Not something you always see, but it's looking good so far. Especially like the purple.

Always preferred the look of Easterlings myself.

I love LOTR

Those Spectres look amazing, especially the central one, love the mix of blue, gold and purple.
The overall purpleness is pretty cool.

Now this is what I wanted to see, knew you LOTR fans hide in the depths somewhere, the LOTR forum is awful quiet so thought I would bring it to the forefront

Swordwind wrote:Blue orcs eh? Not something you always see, but it's looking good so far. Especially like the purple.

Always preferred the look of Easterlings myself.

Thanks! Yeh pretty rare man but I like to go outside the box sometimes

Got to admit, they have been nagging at me but three armies is enough for any man!

rodgers37 wrote:I love LOTR

Those Spectres look amazing, especially the central one, love the mix of blue, gold and purple.
The overall purpleness is pretty cool.

Means a lot buddy

Yeh the elven spectre is a beauty of a sculpt and will definitely be adorned with plenty of attention

Didn't realize the purple would get this kind of support! lol


Edit: Can't spell

Only three? I have the beginnings of four 40k armies looking at me, and I'm getting interested in Warmahordes and Fantasy too. I am an insane man.

Holy cow! yeh your not wrong, your sanity may have legged it for the nearest cover as you bombarded it with dreams of plastic crack

And all I really got was two editions of starter kits and a battleforce. Got them in 4th ed, still haven't finished painting.

Haha sounds like a long job dude. I guess I do have the foundations of a fourth army as I have a handful of forgeworld renegades and a thudd gun on the production line May I join you in your delirious insanity that all my projects will get completed at the same time??

Bah, it's the life of all of us. The unfinished projects that stack up and up and up! I have no problem with this, I just need to balance that, working 10 hours a day for 6 days a week, and hopping onto my video games now and again.

If only I didn't have to sleep.

Now go paint more ghosts!

Yep it sure is, many an army has run aground due to my impatience and attention span

Damn that's a long week!!! I used to work like that before christmas, 50hrs for two jobs and my accounting course on top, boy was that burning me out!! I do not envy you mate but I sure do admire your strength of will!

Well I'm gonna start on the browns and the trailing weeds now, using dark dullish greens for the plants to make them look kinda dead/dying and mix it up with 'rotting flesh'. Already used a heavy ink wash on a base of vermin brown for the belts and stuff but I ain't convinced even slightly, too shiny now Need new browns me thinks.

But on the subject of more I have just placed an order for 3 blisters of spectres and a blister of barrow wights meaning the only model left to buy is the shaman but hopefully I will get that for my birthday next week

May have a couple more pics up tomorrow morning with progress on my plants or maybe even tonight, stay tuned

I'm trying to imagine what the terrain looks like when Sam and Frodo were going through the marshes... that the effect you're going for?

That movie could be super-earthtone/grayscale at times, so I get a little colorblind regarding what's what.

Then again, I have a rule against painting things the way they are supposed to be painted. My Easterlings were tan and copper with blue and teal accents. Be a rebel.

Your not wrong, it was very earth tone but I don't think I will go that dark, just a standard bestial brown, dry brush vermin brown, dry brush bleached bone is what i will go for with static grass. However with the new spectres I have ordered I will be leaving bits of the base un-based so to speak so I can paint it like murky water and then maybe use a brush on gloss??

That sounded like a really nice combo, I can picture that well

Be a rebel eh?? Hmmmm......pink......plus a spare treebeard........


Automatically Appended Next Post:
OK folks so a small progress update for you here. I have done the trailing weeds on one of the spectre's and here is the result:

Back


Front


Not the best photo's unfortunately, the light isn't quite right at this time in the morning but didn't want to keep you guys unfed

So what do you like think guys?? Pretty simple to do really. Start from Orkhide shade and work up with Rotting Flesh, think there are 5 highlights there, the last couple edging towards 'extreme'. I quite like them, they kind of look dead with the dark shadows and basecoat still pushing through in areas but also full of life with the pure Rotting Flesh final highlight (irony huh? )

Hope to have the spectre's kinda done by the end of monday but I'll give you all a progress report tomorrow, want to work on the banner too and make it pop from the fabric

Now to get ready for a hard days working!!

See ya soon

I like your color scheme! I tend to paint a little outside the box, as well. Also, I have about 6 armies partially painted...and one almost painted. :(

Those spectres especially look good, btw. Moar pictures!

PS: glad to see someone plogging about LotR.

A little fuzzy on the weeds, pic wise, but I can definitely see how the colors blend, and it looks good. Keep it up chief.

spyguyyoda wrote:I like your color scheme! I tend to paint a little outside the box, as well. Also, I have about 6 armies partially painted...and one almost painted. :(

Those spectres especially look good, btw. Moar pictures!

PS: glad to see someone plogging about LotR.

Get on it mate!! They are a lot more fun to paint that I had anticipated, really enjoying a different adventure than the usual

Cheers mate, there will be more up soon to feast yours eye's on, getting some more paint to finish them today

Yeh I thought it would be quite good to get some LOTR out there, it's great to see so many of you coming out of the woodwork so-to-speak!

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:A little fuzzy on the weeds, pic wise, but I can definitely see how the colors blend, and it looks good. Keep it up chief.

Thanks man, clearer pictures inbound over the next couple of days!

BIRTHDAY UPDATE!!!

So on the first day of my 21st year on earth I got a delivery!!

Check it out:



Received 3 more packs of spectres and a pack of barrow wights, meaning I am only missing the shaman now Will update the progress list at the top. Hoping I have it among my presents but won't open them until everyone has got home from work

I'll have them built and an army shot will be up tomorrow to show off the spectral host!!

Talk to ya soon guys!

hey man, looking great! So happy to see another LotR blog, not enough of those around

Also, sorry once again that the cave troll was eaten...

Gratz on the 21st! Glad you got some shiny stuff for it.

I look forward to more Ghosts and Ghouls!

On a side note... though a lot of people grumble about mixing in other GW models with the LoTR line and vice-veresa (Balrog wings be damned!) every think of picking up that plastic Cairn Wraith or whatever it is from the Warhammer Fantasy line?

Drop it on a round base and paint it up like the rest, and it would make a kickass model for the army, and still be in theme! It'll just be a little bigger/meaner looking.

I like the colors. Keep up the good work.

rowanamosgallant wrote:hey man, looking great! So happy to see another LotR blog, not enough of those around

Also, sorry once again that the cave troll was eaten...

Yeh there sure ain't, we gotta make a change dude!

Haha, not a problem, still makes me chuckle at the thought! Remember when my cat got hold of one of my first rohirrim, the way he ended up he would have sooner stood on the walls of helms deep alone!

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:Gratz on the 21st! Glad you got some shiny stuff for it.

I look forward to more Ghosts and Ghouls!

On a side note... though a lot of people grumble about mixing in other GW models with the LoTR line and vice-veresa (Balrog wings be damned!) every think of picking up that plastic Cairn Wraith or whatever it is from the Warhammer Fantasy line?

Drop it on a round base and paint it up like the rest, and it would make a kickass model for the army, and still be in theme! It'll just be a little bigger/meaner looking.

Thank you very much!

That's a really cool idea, I do very much like the wraith plastic mini for the VC's, I have one somewhere and may try that out, he could be the leader of my haunted host Cheers for the thought

Or maybe a banshee with a little green stuff would make for a cool Barrow Wight? No reason why there can't be undead queens too!

Scrazza wrote:I like the colors. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for stopping by! I will try my best

So unfortunately today has been one hell of a day and I haven't got anything LOTR done (barely finished my renegades for my other dakka Blog!)

Will post an army shot on Sunday and hopefully have done all the vines on my first three spectres.

Until then I am going paintballing with my new Tippman TPX hand gun!! So next time I see you, I will most probably be hurting!

Love the purple on the Orcs!

Good to see a lotr blog as well!

Good work

LOVING the purple! Nice colour scheme, a little different to the norm which is great I think xxx

deathstreak2000 wrote:Love the purple on the Orcs!

Good to see a lotr blog as well!

Good work

Cheers! Purple seems to be a favourite amongst the dakkite nation

bubble wrote:LOVING the purple! Nice colour scheme, a little different to the norm which is great I think xxx

Thank you very much! Yeh it's a tad different......

AN UPDATE OMG!

Yeh sorry guys, 2 exams and working a seven day week and a gamestation sale did not help for sure!

A small update as I do not have a lot to show except an army shot to give you an insight to the size of my project which to be honest looks tiny!



Unfortunatley the metal and the finecast like to think they are glowing in sunlight so they aren't very clear. They are put into their warbands here. I reckon a hard month and I could have these done

On another point I have been thinking about an entire spirit host. The image in my head looks cool and on paper, played the right way, it could be damn formidable! So this is what it would look like:

Warband 1:
Shade
7 spectre's

Warband 2:
Barrow Wight
6 spectre's

Warband 3:
Barrow Wight
6 spectre's

Total 500pts
BP:12

A brittle army to be sure and no doubt I will be outnumbered but the combination of abilities is brutal. There are 20 models that can control another model if they fail courage, there are two that paralyze anyone on a 4+ (unlimited uses in the game, once per turn though) and a model that reduces the enemy roll by one in every combat within 6".

Now factor into that that nothing has a defence lower than 5 or a courage lower than 6 (except the shade) and the spectres assault courage instead. Oh and they all cause terror, so even when it isn't my priority I have a say in what charges are made

Overall LETHAL. Or so I think, I could well be wrong! It wouldn't be the first time

So that's it for this update, let us know what you think guys and feel free to talk about anything LOTR! I do hope to have the orcs (not characters) done by the end of the week

Peace, Scotti

Looks like a nice army. I haven't played spectres yet, but they seem to do the trick. I'm doing a LOTR blog here on dakka as well. I'm definatly subscribed, This is good inspiration.

Cheers man, they are an intriguing unit and worth a look if you can include some for their powers.

Let me know when you start it up, I'd love to have a nosey!

I already started it up, but it has already been lost in the great confusion that is dakka. Last post from a few days ago.

Crud I will finds it! Glad I'm not the only one flying the LOTR flag, it deserves better!

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:Crud I will finds it! Glad I'm not the only one flying the LOTR flag, it deserves better!

Indeed it does. GW gave it a little bit of love, so we should do the same.