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I was thinking Dwarf Crossbows would be the same as Uruk/Corsair ones, yeah. S4, 24" range (if that's right, my rulebook isn't on me at the moment).

See above for new thoughts on Kingsguard. I'll add Bodyguard: Thorin, KUTM for sure.

 Paradigm wrote:
I was thinking Dwarf Crossbows would be the same as Uruk/Corsair ones, yeah. S4, 24" range (if that's right, my rulebook isn't on me at the moment).

See above for new thoughts on Kingsguard. I'll add Bodyguard: Thorin, KUTM for sure.

Thats correct on the crossbow but it is also move or fire

Yeah, forgot to add that.

Lake town refugee: 3 points (Human)

M6 F2/4+ S2 D3 A1 W1 C2

Special Rules:
Throw stones, unarmed, Flee, Fear everything

Fear everything: treat all enemies as if they caused terror, enemies that cause terror may NEVER be charged by a model with this rule and enemies that cause terror who charge a model will automatically fail their courage check.

Flee: refugees may run from a fight if engaged by an enemy model and has NOT moved yet this turn. If a model fails a courage check from terror it is considered having fled. If by doing so all other lake town refugees within 6" must pass a courage check or flee even if engaged in a fight(regardless if having had moved this turn or not). Models will move their full movement value towards the nearest board edge. If a model moves off of the board they are then removed as a casualty. Enemy models in base contact with a model that flees(before the flee takes place) will immediatly make a single attack against the fleeing model.


I based this off of hobbit militia. Humans would be a better fighter thus the F2 value but i didnt want the throw stones to be so effective. Unarmed is important as all models are considered armed with a hand weapon unless otherwise specified. The flee rule can be your best friend or worst nightmare. I considered adding d3 to the move for fleeing

That looks pretty neat actually (although I'm not sure why they're listed as 'Dwarf'). The only issue with those is that I'm sure the less-fluffy player would more than happily use them as roadbloack/chaff units that then flee so the troops can counter-charge, which kind of defeats the point reallly. For scenarios, where you can link their fate to VPs, they certainly work though.

What about giving them a rule that they treat all models as having Terror, but any Laketown Militia or Guards within X distance gain +1C for Terror tests? This stops them getting involved in voluntary fighting, but also represents nicely the fact that they are really what the Laketowners are fighting for?

The dwarf part is i copied the template from the OP

How does that update look. The free strike really makes you think twice because you will begin to dwindle if you do it too much and reach the breaking point much quicker

Ah, fair enough!

With defense 3 lots of them will be cut down running away. but im changing it again

changed the Fight value to 2/4+ and points to 3 also making terror a little different for them as well as added a bit to flee

That looks just about fine now, the added downside to Flee will hopefully encourage a more proper/fluffy use of them and be interesting to play.

So that's Iron Hills and Army of Azog just about done, tomorrow I'll see about compiling this stuff in a sourcebook-style PDF. If anyone gets any chance to playtest this stuff, then that would be great. I'll see about trying out the Dwarf stuff tomorrow, maybe.

 Paradigm wrote:
That looks just about fine now, the added downside to Flee will hopefully encourage a more proper/fluffy use of them and be interesting to play.

So that's Iron Hills and Army of Azog just about done, tomorrow I'll see about compiling this stuff in a sourcebook-style PDF. If anyone gets any chance to playtest this stuff, then that would be great. I'll see about trying out the Dwarf stuff tomorrow, maybe.

My army of the iron hills sculpts has been put on hold for a moment. I recently just incurred a $400 repair to my truck which is a whole weeks pay for me.....unless anyone has some grim hammers they will donate to the cause ill just keep praticing my green stuff work till then

Ouch, sorry to hear about the truck. Hope you get that sorted.

I've tried my hand at some sculpting myself, but it'll be a while before I get anywhere; I got a decent-ish Dwarf torso piece, but for some reason I'm finding legs pretty much impossible. So at the moment, it's old-school LotR Dwarves that will be pretending they all have pikes.

 Paradigm wrote:
Ouch, sorry to hear about the truck. Hope you get that sorted.

I've tried my hand at some sculpting myself, but it'll be a while before I get anywhere; I got a decent-ish Dwarf torso piece, but for some reason I'm finding legs pretty much impossible. So at the moment, it's old-school LotR Dwarves that will be pretending they all have pikes.

Honestly looking at them it wont but repositiong some arms, adding a weapon to a hand maybe twisting a wrist, and adding a shield. From the looks of what I see in one box i can build kings guard and regulars with and without crossbows from one box. Getting 2-3 sculpts for each. It wouldnt be too hard to use a bit of colored wax to sculpt throwing spears bit that fits on a back that cant be cast in resin. If i can get something decent ill pour some molds and cast a batch or 2.

Yeah, I think converting from Grimhammers is the way to go, my attempts at sculpting from scratch were more for the challenge than anything. Some of those arms would be super-easy to just swap hammerheads for homemade Pikes, and affix some Shields to the forearm. The ones in more dynamic poses would make better Kingsguard, with maybe just an extended tunic and perhaps a helmet crest (going back to the art books, the idea is that anything above a troop rank has a crest, with Dain having the biggest).

 Paradigm wrote:
Yeah, I think converting from Grimhammers is the way to go, my attempts at sculpting from scratch were more for the challenge than anything. Some of those arms would be super-easy to just swap hammerheads for homemade Pikes, and affix some Shields to the forearm. The ones in more dynamic poses would make better Kingsguard, with maybe just an extended tunic and perhaps a helmet crest (going back to the art books, the idea is that anything above a troop rank has a crest, with Dain having the biggest).

The part that will bug me the most is the face plate. the iron hills guys have an open face mask that the grimhammers have covered. No i cannot sculpt that, we would have to call the perry brothers on this

Hah! Well, for what it's worth, the concept art for IH Dwarves does have full-face helmets, so technically I think you could get away with it.

I'm liking the rules you guys have come up with so far, dwarves sound like tough cookies which should be just right.

I agree that grim hammers are the best bet for iron hill dwarf conversions, my suggestion on the shields would be to create a simple one out of plasticard or greenstuffs . Then either repeat the process or make a green stuff mold to make even more of them.

Should be simple enough right ?

 Wolf wrote:
I'm liking the rules you guys have come up with so far, dwarves sound like tough cookies which should be just right.

I agree that grim hammers are the best bet for iron hill dwarf conversions, my suggestion on the shields would be to create a simple one out of plasticard or greenstuffs . Then either repeat the process or make a green stuff mold to make even more of them.

Should be simple enough right ?

What i will do after making the mini is look at how it needs to be chopped up so that i can create a silicone mold of the pieces that I can use to cast them in resin. Not that ill sell them or anything but ill be able to make myself an army and maybe a few others on here minis.



On a side note these at the body shop DOUBLED the price of the part for markup. WTF. They knew i was bent over the fence and they sure as hell went in dry

Then i just got sniped WITH ONE SECOND LEFT by some d bag on ebay for a hell of a deal on uruk hai crossbows............[/rant]

I was going to convert some grimhammers myself as well with a pretty similar process by the sounds of it! Still deciding what to use for spears though, will have to look at freezes though. Also, with my birthday coming up i am hoping to get the Hobbit concept book that Paradigm has, is that the Brian Sibley one? I have his others and they are pretty good.

Ebay snipers, ooooh how i hate them (i hope no one here does it frequently!). The problem is they are growing more and more common with websites that automatically place bids on the last second... Though i have to be honest i have placed a last second bid before because it was something i just couldn't let go!

How simple would it be to edit the pdf format, because it would be cool to add pictures of converted models next to the profiles?

Edit: trying to think of ways to make a good Dain without too much sculpting. May have to delve into Fantasy bits...

Captain: The Brian Sibley one is very good for pictures of the finished things and a little bit of concept art, but for me the best one is this beauty:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chronicles-Design-Hobbit-Battle-Armies/dp/000754409X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420716348&sr=8-1&keywords=the+hobbit+art+and+design

Really a treasure trove of artwork, both digital and traditional, with tonnes of stuff that never made it into the film (the cinema version, at least).

As for the PDF, at the moment I'll probably be using pictures from the film, but as and when people start getting conversions done it should be easy enough to edit them in and then re-release the document.

For my Dain I used an old (either pre-WFB or 1st Edition) Citadel Dwarf mini, so it might be worth having a look on Ebay for older Dwarf minis. Failing that, you could get something passable with minimal sculpting on the old LotR Balin perhaps.

Ooh nice, looks good and for a reasonable price too. Thanks for pointing it out.

As for Dain, i'll probs just convert a foot model from the Balin you mentioned, or use the old Dain Ironfoot model from LotR (very similare i know!). Even armoured Dwalin with a bit of sculpting could be effective.

Ok, here's the test PDF, bit sparse on pics as there aren't that many around still. Once we get some pics of conversions and more stills from the film I'll add them in. So far it's only got the Army of the Iron Hills (with the proposed edits), but any thoughts on style/presentation are welcome.

Nice work Paradigm!

Just found some stills whilst scouring the interwebs, was wondering what you think of them:





Is this the elite you were talking about which you based the Kingsguard off, is it a totally new and blooming cool crazed dwarf?!

Actually, I've not seen that one before. But it is pretty much exactly what I was thinking of when designing the Kingsguard, a super-angry tooled-up Dwarf, so as/when we get some non-Greenscreen shots of that guy he is going to unwittingly become the poster boy (poster Dwarf?) for the elite of the Iron Hills

Cool, he does look pretty badass!

A few things i saw in the PDF, for the Dain profile there is a slight grammatical error in his headbutt rule, start of the sentence says 'The' when it may need to say 'this'.

Otherwise really like what you have done!

Ah, proof-reading, the bane of creativity! Well spotted, I shall edit that one when I get back to it. If you spot anything else, let me know.

No worries, we are all human after all (at least i hope so...)

Also, was the taunt special rule an omission? It doesn't matter if it was but i wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten anything you wanted to put in.

Might have a quick go at making a Percy profile now...

Ah, damn, I thought he should have had 3 Special Rules! I'll add that in on the edit, it's a really cool rule. Sorry for missing it out!

I'm interested to see your take on Percy. I might have a shot at Bain in a minute, I've got a few ideas.

No probs, at least it will be in there eventually!

This is my interpretation of Percy, wanted to make him unique without cluttering his profile with Special Rules and also wanted to represent his bravery and and awe of Bard!

Percy, Lieutenant of Lake Town: 70 points (Human)

M6 F4/4+ S4 D5 A2 W2 C5 M3 W2 F1

Wargear: Armour and Sword

Special Rules:
Keen to impress: Percy reveres Bard like no other and is always trying to prove himself to this great leader. If Bard the Bowman, Girion's Heir is in Line of Sight of Percy at any point during that turn, Percy automatically passes any Courage tests he needs to make. He also comes under the effect of Bard's Saviour of Laketown Special Rule.


Notes: Base stats of Laketown Militia Captain, added 10 points for special rule and 5 for extra courage, then subtracted 5 for having a sword instead of a spear.

Edit: Might change as suggested by Paradigm, also changed his Will

Here goes:

Bain, Son of Bard: 30 Points (human)

M5 F3/4+ S3 D3 A1 W1 C4 M1 W1 F1

Wargear: Sword

Special Rules:
Father and Son: As long as both Bain and Bard are alive, each passes any Courage test they are required to take

A Fighter In the Making: Bain is inexperienced, but a quick learner in defence of his home and family. For every 3 models Bain kills, he may choose to increase his Strength, Defence or Attacks by 1 (each may only be increased once), or recover 1 point of Might (which may not take him beyond his starting value).




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Percy looks good to me, the only thing I'm thinking is that, like most other named Captain-alternates (like Cirion, Gorbag, Lurtz ect), he should have 3 Might for an extra 10 points. I like the special rule.

Bain looks cool, nice and thematic rule as well.

Good point with the might, will edit OP. Also want something else to distinguish him as a trusted captain of Bard and how willing he is to fight. Basically to bring out his film character more!

Edit: profile changed, realised i had missed out the three hero stats completely! Will bumped as well...