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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...

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!!

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

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

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??

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

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

Scrazza wrote:

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.

QFT my friend.

Ok so no piccys but I do pose you a question Dakka. I am going to spray my Barrow Wights later on today and was wondering how I should paint them? They are a pale blue originally but do you think the same effect replicated but with lilacs would look just as good? Silver armour as well I think?

Let me know what you think

spyguyyoda wrote:I like the idea. Do it and post pics

Your wish is my command! I will make it so

Might start some basing too and get some of the orcs done so that's a little off the work load and I can concentrate on the spectres cos they're awesome!

Hey all,

Spyguyyoda, I swear they are being painted, have done the armour and the base colours, gonna post when done have opted for a more fight-in-with-army scheme than the GW purplized.

Not a lot to say other than that I am afraid, busy again in life and it's killing my hobby time however the GF is at work all day on friday and I have the day off so that means: SUPERAWESOMEBUMPERLOTRUPDATE!!

On friday I will be showing step-by-step images of some spectres being painted, reveal the finished barrow wights if I haven't by then, tactics of my army in the making and spirit army to be and also if I can get my brother to play, have a small battle report for you guys to enjoy! Orcs may well be done too! Very much looking forward to doing this as concentrated hobby time has never hit such a low with me.

Until next time, take care

Your not wrong! It's really really really hard at the moment, I mean I'm lucky that my distractions are all good (work, GF, friends, family etc.) but man is it irritating when you think, half an hour could get me half done on a dude!

Yeh I find that helps sometimes however sometimes I find my own company better, depends how chatty I am feeling and attention span

Nice you could join us

Dr. What wrote:I must say:

I'm inspired by the idea of an all ghost list.

I think I'm going to tinker with one, maybe with a wraith in it.

It's one that would be a lot of fun, no doubt about it, the manipulation of your enemies army is as good as it gets and even when your opponent has priority you can find yourself still in control of the game Do it sir! Or I will guinea pig it and see how it does and relay feedback ?

Commander Cain wrote:Liking what I see! I own most of those models and know what a pain some of them can be to paint what with everything blending into each other. The purple paint scheme looks great, I love the banner especially.

I was sooo close to starting an Isengard army myself, what with all those pikes and whatnot. Unfortunately, the price increase in the models made my mind up and I went back into the grimdark future to paint some moah mareenz!

Keep up the good work!

Cain

Cheers buddy!
I should have the banner done soon so hopefully you will like it even more finished

If that's the case I have an small ton of Uruks that I don't use and I'm not really a fan of anymore, I can see what I got and send you a pm? I don't want a lot for them

I'll try!

Dr. What wrote:

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:
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)

I'm impressed by this list and tinkering with a similar one, but don't barrow wights have a limited amount of will? or did they change that in the new sourcebooks?

No, you're correct it has 5 will, didn't see the will stat but still it's pretty good and I will still take them for 50pts a piece. That should be enough though to either:
1)hamper a shield wall
2)hamper a very strong combat hero
3)tie up a powerful wizard

All three represent a real problem for the enemy, a pair mean 10 paralyze attempts. Not to be trifled with.

So I have just undercoated the remaining spectres and I am hoping to have all the basecoats of purple, skin (well ghostly skin ) metal and the weeds done. And the I would like to get the purple highlights done, the metal washes and the skin done today. Finished the eyes and the weeds would be a bonus, let's see if I can work fast enough. Also nearly done my barrow wights so they'll be up if a few hours with them.

More later today!



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ok folks as promised here is some of the current painting,


Barrow Wight No.1. I like this model more than the other to be honest, the pose is nicer. Went for the same look as the spectre's but gave them brighter eyes to hopefully show that they possess more than just undeath, they have a active mind still if you will.


Barrow Wight No.2. Not a bad model I suppose but still I like the other better other thing about my BW's they have grey hair not the white you expect from a really old being as I thought grey looked more 'deathly' on them and white may be too bright for the army, actually that sounds stupid given I have nearly lilac orcs more the wrong kind of bright perhaps?


One thing I can tell you is batch painting spectres ain't a lot of fun but I wanted to get some really good updates for you guys so I am making myself do it Done the base purple, skin and metal. Next will be gold on the elven spectres, tarnish all the metals, next skin highlight and then the undercoat for the trailing weeds

I will try and have another two picture updates today but I can't promise anything due to time constraints, I'll try my best

Also later will be some tactica for the spirits in my army and also a small discussion on army choice for an upcoming event .

So guys, please C&C away and I'll be back shortly

Ok here's another progress shot for you:


They look a little messy at the moment but I promise you my highlights will make them look a hell of a lot better. I hate this stage, I don't know why but when they look like this they look a long long long way from being finished lol

I haven't got a lot of time left for painting at the moment (gotta get to GW and buy my mate some hexwraiths for his birthday and then meet the GF from work) so I thought I would share some of my tactics concerning my current pain-in-the- , the spectres

Spectres, So what are they good for?

1) Spectres are tough for a start, a defense of 5 means they can weather most volleys with ease and hold their own with most standard fighting troops.
2) They are courage 6 so will hang around even if you break which is very handy.
3) They attack the enemy courage value instead of defense, so yes that means if you play minis tirith every fella on their side with heavy armour has effectively wasted 2 points
4) They can 'possess' your opponent. You choose a model of the enemies within 12" and make them roll for courage, they fail you can move them even if they have already been moved. Though this excludes those in combat and you can't cause harm to them, you can hold up his entire battle plans by deciding his entire flank will desert him for a merry wander
5) They cause terror!

Thoughts

So those are some pretty strong pro's right? What you need to realise is that they can disrupt the enemy to the point of frustration and you can halt his/her (Sharazad ) in their tracks. I will be using 10 shades in 500pts, so I am gonna nominate as many in his front ranks as possible. Now if these are GotFC, the best shield wall a human player can take, using my spectre power I can, using probability, stop at least 4 or 5 in their tracks, or send the right or left five off in another direction. If it is the latter there be some juicy spear troops to kill. They want to charge you, you have terror, on average it's going to be 50/50 on whether the enemy can charge you (7 is the average you can roll on 2 dice) meaning he/she might only get half the troops into the fight leaving you to gang up on them with your spectres and other troops.

At the end of the day, even if you do not have priority you can take control of the game again in a few dice rolls especially if you get lucky and scare Aragorn (I would not advise that btw there are better and easier targets!)

Why they might suck

1) High points cost for a troop (may find yourself outnumbered a lot)
2) Fight Value 2

Thoughts

Now one of those is a very big con, the fight value. So yes you can by-pass armour but you are also more likely to end up on the receiving end. Being as skilled as a goblin is never good but they are dead so we'll forgive them BUT all is not lost, use them in combination with the ultimate anti-banner, a shade, and the enemy can score no higher than a 5 in combat within 6" of said wraith. And if your running a tournament army why not take 2 because yes this effect does stack, 'I'm sorry Elrond, you may be one of the best combatants in the game but I'm afraid a 4 is the best we will allow you' and then also use your spectres powers to ward off anyone threating the shades. THE POWER OF TEAMWORK!

So there's a little food for thought guys, will post anything I think of later and maybe some more painting if I have the time

Until then, take it easy

spyguyyoda wrote:Hmm...I like it. I really like the eyes. The purple seems a little flat, though. It may be the picture, but it looks like they could use at least one more highlight on the cloth parts.

Just for you spyguyyoda

Cheers man, yeh I think another highlight might do them good, good call also thinking of putting an emblem on the chest piece of the 2nd seen as he was a King after all, do it in black and then go over it carefully in silver to create a kind of carved in illusion if you see what I'm saying, can't think of the words to put it better


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:Liche Purple can be incredibly frustrating to highlight.

There's no convenient lighter color you can just brush on and win. Hormagaunt Purple is WAY too Grey for it to work properly. But if you're willing to mix paints, Hormagaunt added to the Liche Purple is a soft way to lighten the Liche Purple without the obnoxious lavender color you get from adding white to it.

If you have any Rotting Flesh, you can add that to your Liche Purple to make a highlight that would be perfect. Bleached Bone also works better as a mixer than Skull White. It seems weird at first but trust me, it works.

Once that last skin hightlight gets on those guys will pop. You really do the Spectres in a great bluish tint, its the tops.

I do actually use bleached bone I prefered the hues I got from it to that of rotting flesh but there wasn't a lot in it to be honest

A great bluish tint? Can you expand mate, I'm not quite getting you Or you mean like the ones I already done?

Would also like to thank everyone for looking and commenting, we've hit a 1000 views and it's driving me on, so a big thanks to all

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:I meant the ones you've already done, the spectre flesh looks great.

Cheers man, much appreciated

Dr. What wrote:

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:Nice you could join us

Dr. What wrote:I must say:

I'm inspired by the idea of an all ghost list.

I think I'm going to tinker with one, maybe with a wraith in it.

It's one that would be a lot of fun, no doubt about it, the manipulation of your enemies army is as good as it gets and even when your opponent has priority you can find yourself still in control of the game Do it sir! Or I will guinea pig it and see how it does and relay feedback ?

I am testing a similar list tomorrow:

(Not organised into warbands yet, but):

Ringwraith - max stats
2 Barrow Wights
19 Spectres (I was given a friend's box of "useless/broken miniatures" and it containted a treebeard, elrond, bilbo, rare aragorn, and LOTS of Rohan, broken elves, goblins, and MANY Numenorians. Thus, I made them into spectres).

Thoughts?



Automatically Appended Next Post:

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:
3) They attack the enemy courage value instead of defense, so yes that means if you play minis tirith every fella on their side with heavy armour has effectively wasted 2 points

Wait...where is that in their rules?

spyguyyoda wrote:^
I believe the special rule that grants that ability is still called Spirit Grasp.

Dr. What wrote:Is it simply for all spirits?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Actually, Spirit Grasp is for WoTR, not SBG

Dr.What - I would drop the amount of will your using and also the fate and might a little, maybe go for a 2/10/2 Ringwraith, then drop a barrow wight and a spectre and invest in a shade to reduce all enemy dice rolls to win a fight within 6" are reduced by one to counter the lack of fight for spectres

Ever thought of playing a named Ringwraith? Maybe the undying to benefit off the barrow wights will usage? Or the Dark Marshall for his banner effect and higher fight?

If you don't run a wraith then you could use a double BW and shade combo, which to be honest is what I'd do, cheaper and still have a great impact, plus the shade is harder than a wraith as it has 3 wounds so shooting is not so much a problem

Warbands wise, if you plan to run the exact list you posted go 7 with the Ringwraith and 6 a piece with the BW's, they new missions mean you bands can be split up meaning you want to protect your greatest asset should he find his band alone


The ability is called spectral blades for the spectres, page 36 in their profile in the new sourcebook. For shades it is called Blades of the dead.

Haven't really got time to paint anymore tonight I'm afraid, gotta get ready for paintballing tomorrow, hopefully will have my new tippmann CP98 Very Excited!

So I though I'd talk about how I intend to use my newly painted barrow wights:

The good bits

1)They have a high defense of 7
2)They have courage 6
3)They can paralyze the enemy for long periods of time and have reasonable amount of will to do so.

The bad bits

1)Only 1 wound.....
2)Range of said paralysis is 6"

These guys rule but are so delicate, you need to keep them tucked up against the back of your line and safe from archers, 1 wound is not great for 50pts especially with no fate but they can be kept safe easily. If they are tucked up behind a double line of troops they still have a 4" range beyond them and you can really knacker the enemy lines. Put holes in the shield wall as he/she is forced to leave them behind or dictate the game as they use their other troops to help their trapped comrades, havoc will follow and you should, if you move right get the combats you want and even outnumber in some cases. Heroes, enemy combat heroes, are to be avoided at ALL costs even if they hit your front line back off far enough away so that you a) can still hit them with paralysis and b) can slot another spectre in between you can the hero cos if aragorn gets going with a heroic combat he WILL go straight through your line and the barrow wight without breaking a sweat! The best way to counteract this is use a pair of BW's to destroy the will stockpile the enemy hero has and force him/her to use as much might as possible, no one wants there Boromir captain of the white tower rendered useless after spend 175pts on him but then again use up that huge stockpile of might to keep free? It forces the other general into a difficult situation. This way a pair of barrow wights can earn their points back with ease. This also goes for nullifying the enemy wizards too, harass them every turn with a pair of BW's and watch the will disappear and the might, even Gandalf the White will struggle to win the magic battle as he is forced to use that free will every turn as well as an extra and then forced to use something to retaliate, his will will be gone in 3 to 4 turns if you get lucky. Now I'm not saying that this is fool proof, you may not hit, but the threat alone of a large chunk of one's army being made useless may provide ample distraction to control the game.

So any thought's on the tactica I put out today? C&C is more than welcome and if you want to mention something I have missed go for it!

Next painting update is most likely monday but I will be talking on here over sunday and a bit of tonight no doubt and finger crossed Monday will bear the first of my battle reports! My brother has just returned from washington with college and he said yes to a game. It will be Dwarves vs. Angmar I'm waiting for him to stick Dain in cos I'll cry

Peace

Scrazza wrote:I like the paintob on those models

Can't really say anything about tactics, as I'm not much of a gamer.

Thanks mate, look forward to seeing you make progress on yours

Dr. What wrote:Thank you for clarifying! I will have to buy the Moria & Angmar sourcebook ASAP.

And I am taking:
1 Shade
2 BW's
20 Spectres.

Your very welcome.

Awesome let us know how the battle goes, I would be very interested to hear the result, good luck!

TH3FALL3N wrote:This blog has really got me in the mood to paint up my Harad army !

Get on it! Then go ravage middle earth!

Dr. What wrote:Brother-Captain Scotti, I salute you!

I ran this force today, against Elves (Led by Legolas) and Rohan (Royal Guard led by Eowyn).

I won.

The Barrow Wights died to volley fire (my opponent got desperate to stop me). The shade led me in a win against Eowyn and her "rough riders."

By "Possessing" an approaching Elven Phalanx, I pulled them in 1 or 2 at a time, and basically ate them.

The BWs did get 2 spells out in their time though. They wrecked 2 Royal Guard (In a later 300 point match, they kept Lurtz and an Isengard Troll down for most of the game).

I must say:

You are either the most brilliant strategist that Angmar has ever seen or somebody too insane for psychiatric care.

My one concern:

How could this list hold against a Moria force featuring a drum/1 or more Shaman(s)?

First of all, congratulations on the win! Great to hear the list went well for you

Gotta say, I thought elves might upset you but you must have played a good game And from the sounds of what you did, you did exactly what you needed to, you took control out of your opponents hands and said 'you play by my rules either way'. Eating an elven phalanx is very hard to do with any army so well done!

BW's really come into their own, despite them falling early on in your elven match up, I'm guessing your shade and spectres got little attention meaning you were would be at full combat strength by the time you reached him/her And the fact they held down a troll and lurtz is testament to really how under rated they are!

That is one of the funniest complements of all time, cheers! Don't mind if I sig that do you?

Mate, neither of them should be a worry, the best a drum can do is make you goblins courage 3, you still wound on a 4 and while it acts as a huge banner, you have you shade to make sure you still reduce their max roll, the odds are still in your favour I would say. The shaman's , one BW spamming paralysis on it and watch the will drain and with the amount of spectres in the force you should be able to move the cowardly beings out your way to slay the shaman. I don't mind doing some mathhammer for you at some point if you wish with the drum thing

Sharazad wrote:thumbs up!

S.

Cheers Sharazad, glad your enjoying the read

Ayowyn wrote:Hi, i am the player who was beaten by this and i must say it is a fantastic army i am wondering if you know any way to counter this army?

Hey there, nice to meet you! And sorry I gave Dr. What the list......

The way I look at it is by cancelling out the strengths, that means a high courage army. So I would go with wood elves, not galadhrim but bare wood elves. Why? Because your armour counts for nothing and with courage 6 you stand the best chance, now take a pair of powerful wizards (stormcallers I think, not well versed in elvish forces I'm afraid!) and someone absolutely lethal like Glorfindel. Max your bows too. This is were you need to focus because the BW's and the shade are not what you should shoot at all, shoot the spectre's! Whittle them down and begin to open up gaps to the heroes. I would sit Glorfindel on a horse simply because the spirit host has no ranged attacks to dismount him.

Can't believe I have just told people how to beat my horrific host but hey, I don't mind helping one bit

Ok guys and gals got a small update for you.

Got a call from my mum and dad this morning and they were like 'hey found three boxes of pretty new LOTR warhammer, wood elves, rohan and haradrim, you want them?' Now I wasn't sure cos I don't do any of them at all, so I asked skeptically how much to which my dad replied '£10 son for the three boxes' ($16 US). Holy cow! I said yes and my dad told me they were pretty much new and that the riders were still on the sprue!

They got them home and I checked them out, this is what I received:

20 wood elves, the other four are somewhat damaged
A metal gandalf, fellowship of the ring edition (sweet ass mini)
6 Pretty much NOS Riders of Rohan, horses need pinning to bases as the previous owner evidently didn't know what the little nubbins on the hooves were
20 Haradrim Warriors

Oh and to my bewilderment, 2 knoblars

Here's a piccy of the swag!



Other than that folks not a lot to tell regarding my Angmar as I have spent my day with the lovely lady friend BUT there will be a few updates tomorrow! Not only will there be painting and shade tactica but there will the FIRST BATTLE REPORT!! I get to test my 250pt spirit host list against my brothers dwarves and he's already letting on that Dain will be involved, the joys.......... but hey lets see what my BW's have to say

Looking forward to chatting soon! Take care!

No problemo mate, I look forward to hearing the result, he has a hard list but it can be beat.

Also thought that if you use spells to disable the BW's you can force them to use will and in turn do what they are trying to do to you Priority may sometimes be a must so keep your might ready for key moments!

Good luck!

Dr. What wrote:

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:

That is one of the funniest complements of all time, cheers! Don't mind if I sig that do you?

Go right ahead.

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:
Hey there, nice to meet you! And sorry I gave Dr. What the list......

This will make things fun. I like the idea of counters, but I also want to flex my new Elven force, the Sons of Elrond.

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:
They got them home and I checked them out, this is what I received:

20 wood elves, the other four are somewhat damaged
A metal gandalf, fellowship of the ring edition (sweet ass mini)
6 Pretty much NOS Riders of Rohan, horses need pinning to bases as the previous owner evidently didn't know what the little nubbins on the hooves were
20 Haradrim Warriors

Oh and to my bewilderment, 2 knoblars

Nice! I went to borrow some extra goblins from a friend and accidentally got the "junk box." He said I could keep it, so now I have a Treebeard (I had to repair him, but he's now an Ent in my Elven force), Bilbo, some great metals (2 have become Elladan and Ellrohir to me for my Elven force), all of the Numenorians which are now my Spectres (cheers to you for that idea!), and the elves which are now the rest of my Elven force!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Long story short:
I love getting GW minis for a lot cheaper!

Always nice getting a bargain for GW mini's seen as they are now extortionate

So here it is, the battle report!!

BATTLE REPORT NO.1: URUK-HAI VS ANGMAR

I came into the battle feeling very confident with my new build, a terror causing possession army. My brother was a little curious of my list and not entirely happy about some of the powers but was like hey, it's the rules.

Now I did say it was dwarves vs. angmar but he couldn't find them so he played as my old Uruk-hai forces.

The armies:
Angmar


Uruk-Hai


I rolled won the roll for set-up and elected 2nd.

Set-up looked like this:

Sam reckoned he has deployed the tape measure remarkably well

Turn 1
Sam won priority. He moves his left flank back behind his crossbows to maximize his shooting before any combat and also away from my powers. Crossbows move across too.

I hug the cover on the left and the right so that I'm out of view but still advancing.


End of turn 1

Turn 2
I won priority and wasted no time getting up closer, moved round the hill on the left and kept out of view on the right giving the crossbows nothing to shoot. I can see his Uruks on the left but I am not within possession range yet. Sam isolated my right hand group and continues to move left with the captain, banner and berzerker group. He advances with his left hand Uruks and the crossbows try and climb the ruin for a better view, only one can reach and sam rolls a 1.

Turn 3
Sam wins priority and crossbows move onto the ruin. He leaves the left Uruks where they are the the right hand group can catch them up. I'm forced to move across the field but keep my Barrow Wight shielded by spectre's. The spectres shielding the BW possess the captain and run him away from the others.


End of turn 3

Turn 4
I won priority this time (very fair so far ) and move my right host across again. They possess two crossbow men and move them so they can't fire, the captain is also possessed again and is run further from the fight. The spectres in my left possess two pikemen and run them in front of their own guys, blocking them slightly. Remaining crossbow fires at a BW but hits a spectre instead but fails to wound.


End of turn 4

Turn 5
I win priority again. I move up the right spirits and leave the left ones where they are. Possess two crossbows and the captain on the right and run them toward the board edge. One crossbow had fallen last turn when I possessed it so it couldn't shoot anyway so I left it. I possess a shield and a pike on the left to try and block the berzerker again. Sam moves around them and heads straight for my right hand warband.


End of turn 5

Turn 6
Sam wins priority and begins by moving his captain from the edge of the battlefield back towards my right clump. The berzerker and the banner move right also to prepare to try and tackle my larger group with the crossbows and captains help. I charge the captain with 3 spectres and surround him. I try and paralyze the berzerker but fail and shoved a spectre between the BW and the berzerker for protection. I shield the BW from shooting with another spectre. The left group of ghosties possesses a shield Uruk and then moves to the right and out of harm's reach.

Sam's crossbows fire at my barrow wight through my spectre and kills the BW! A big loss!

The Uruk Captain also does well and beats all my spectres in combat, he dispatches one.


End of turn 6

Turn 7
I win priority but I'm pretty worried at this stage, I have lost a key player and sam's rolls and now mostly higher than average meaning a lot less possessions! I possess, move and surround his captain on the right. Barrow wight no.2 also fails to paralyze the berzerker. I screen the BW from combat. Sam moves into combat with the spectre screening my BW with the berzerker. His Uruks on the left hurry right to try and catch the fleeing ghosts over the hill.

Sam kills a stranded spectre with his crossbows.

I beat the berzerker back despite rerolls from the nearby banner for Sam but fail to kill the berzerker. I also win the combat against the Uruk captain on the left but Sam uses both his might to win the combat. It proves a wise move as he kills two more spectres!

Turn 8
I am now losing badly having not killed a model and Sam having disposed of four! The dice gods just didn't want to know!

I won priority but Sam calls a Heroic Move with the other captain on the left. The left group of Uruk's seem fearless despite my terror causing appearance and crash into the spectres with pikes to back them up. With nothing left to really swing this I launch my remaining spectres into combat hoping to score a couple of points seen as I wound on 4 attacking their courage. BW paralyzes the berzerker finally!

Sam's crossbow's fail to do anything.

His captain on the left kills the spectre fighting him but my spectre fighting the paralyzed berzerker kills the helpless Uruk! Finally a 6!


End of turn 8

Turn 9
Sam wins priority, I'm dreading the coming turn. Some luck though, the captain on the right fails his terror test and so does a shield Uruk on the far left. Then in the move of the match, Sam see's his opening, neutralizes both control zones from a pair of spectres and slots his captain straight through and into the remaining BW......crud......... I'm also broken so I test for fleeing ghosts and all of the ones not in combat stay. The last spectre on the right heads left to the more squishy crossbowmen leaving the frightened captain behind.

Said spectre is then turned into a pincushion much to Sam's delight.

In combat though I lose no-one I can't wound for toffee, I win against a pair of pikemen with a pair of spectres and roll a double one......I only need a 4 to kill! Just wasn't my day at all


End of turn 9

Turn 10
Sam wins priority again and locks everyone up in combat.

He's determined to shoot the barrow wight to death and even does so through 3 of his own men, miraculously hitting the mark every time! But fails to wound.

In combat Sam wraps it up by killing a spectre with the banner bearer and the captain finally butchers the Barrow Wight.

I fall below 25% and lose the match!


End of turn 10

VICTORY URUK-HAI!!!

Sam came through strong in the second half of the match and his dice were on fire too, if he wanted something he would just about get it. I on the other hand couldn't have rolled well if my life depended on it other than the first few possessions 10 years of it gives you patience enough
I did make a colossal mistake though, I should have dragged out the crossbowmen and destroyed them before he could get his fighting units across. I could have been a good 3 or 4 up on Sam before he had his pikes and such to hand. It cost me dear in the end but you play to learn no?

So congratulations to Sam, a well deserved victory!

On another note, I have realized that though the all spirit army is not that viable at all. The flaws are just too deep and any player with enough sense will butcher them with cunning, the fight value also really lets them down. So I have decided to keep the orcs and such in and stick with the original list at the start of my blog, they really are a support unit rather than anything else. In the end, there just isn't enough substance in the list (no pun intended )

Well I hope you enjoy to the report and Sam wants to play my Angmar army again with his dwarves so hopefully have another one up soon! (When he finds them anyway!)

Cheers! Just wish I didn't have a plain chipboard gaming board gonna cover it with green felt for ease and tack it down round the sides. Sand etc. would get damaged when I slide it back behind my bookcase!

Well yes you can do that but then you have his/her mates breathing down your neck and preparing to butcher you as he/she closes in, just targeting one person leaves the rest of the army free to do what it wants. Once you bunch up and they call heroic moves that you can't counter because you have no might at all you will get ripped to shreds with the poor fight value spectres have and you can't rely to much on the shade, it is far from a guarantee.

The huge problem with this army is it relies HEAVILY on luck, which I don't have You NEED to get the rolls that matter and a army living on the knife edge 99% of the time gets it's ass wooped unfortunately.

Either way it was fun and let us know how it continues to go with your spirits too

I shall continue to devise my orc/spirit hybrid list and see where it takes me.

Dr. What wrote:

Brother-Captain Scotti wrote:
I shall continue to devise my orc/spirit hybrid list and see where it takes me.

I'm wondering if swapping out a BW for some orc/goblin archers might help. Or spearmen?

I wish we could use "Blinding Light" so the little orcses can go down and light candles of their own.

I am thinking about investing in a dozen orc trackers at some point, 5pts each, come with a bow and hit on a 4+. Bargain I think. And yes some variation on the spells would be good but we do have the shadow lord for the same effect

Trondheim wrote:Good report, it warms my dark hearth to see those spiris sendt packing! Anyways well played to both of you

Hey, glad you could join us

Haha, I know your not so keen on the spectres and such so I bet it did! I am hoping to play my brother again soon and maybe my friend down the road too and get the reports for them posted too, maybe using my yet to be revealed Gondorians

Which is my next point, to take a break I have been painting up one Boromir, captain of the white tower but with a different colour scheme to the usual, so far I am happy and I hope to have a picture up sometime tomorrow for you all to look at. But now it's bed time!

Take care all!

deathstreak2000 wrote:An extremely enjoyable report!

Although I thought you had it in the bag early on when you were making his captain dance across the board , and I think if you had rolled a little better you probably would have. It was like the game I had today, my dwarves often only needed 4s to would my opponents orcs but I just never seemed to do it but when my opponent was rolling to wound, and needed a 6, he always seemed to get it!

Keep up the experimenting and I'm sure you'll find that list which is much more effective! Oh, and I for sure would not like to play a list like yours!

Out of interest, what battle type were you playing from the new sourcebooks?

Hey there, welcome to the party

Yeh I also thought early on I would be butchering Uruks as I fancied but failed to capitalize. Also fight 2 is utter rubbish unless you have numbers (how I love you Moria).
Haha unlucky man, I know that feeling so so so so so well

We haven't played in a while so went for a straight up deathmatch, lose at 25%, next time I might play a new scenario though, we just wanted to get up to scratch again

Dr. What wrote:Unfortunately, Ayowyn and I played again, same forces (elves and Angmar) but reversed roles. The list was roasted.

It's a really unique/hilarious list that spawns tons of evil grins (if they aren't being slaughtered by Elven dakka.

It is a very fun army and can definitely spawn laughs, I mean the only guy I killed on Sam's team was the berzerker and he was the hardest of the lot

Trondheim wrote:Glad to make an apperance you know, Yes I do loathe those ectoplasma dOOds with a burning passion, but you acctualy made me grin while reading it.

On a side note, I recived words from Sweden. My Easterlings seems to have gone insane and butcherd Hobbits & Dwarfs. I also orderd a Dragon Knigth from GW yesterday alongside a new Bronze collour and a batch of Nuln oil

Well I am glad you enjoyed the read my friend, I shall supply more battles for yours eyes to feast on

Now THAT sounds like fun! I wanna slaughter the shorter folk! my brothers dwarves have defeated me many a time and I feel it's time for some payback!

Love the dragon knight mini, let us know how the bronze works out too if you wouldn't mind, looking for a replacement myself for brazen brass.

I kinda said Boromir would be up yesterday so sorry that he wasn't but he's here now! Hope you like him:


Now I know exactly what you gonna say, where is the freehand on the banner? Well I though I would post this before I really mess it up If I may say so myself, I'm pretty proud of the way the red has come out The brown isn't that flat in real life though....

C&C is always appreciated people, will have some minas tirith up soon hopefully as well as the spectres skin finished and the BW's also complete

LAST BUT NOT LEAST ATTENTION PEOPLE!!! PLEASE CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION!! (Oh wait your reading it.....so I guess that means........) SHARAZAD HAS STARTED UP A ROHAN BLOG SO PLEASE SUPPORT IT!! YOU CAN FIND HER THROUGH MY FRIENDS OR THE BLOG PAGE AS USUAL. THE LOTR COMMUNITY IS GROWING NOW SO LETS SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND HAVE SOME FUN! HERE'S THE LINK FOR IT: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/442306.page

Ta

Commander Cain wrote:Ooh, nice blending on that flag! I expect some super freehand to go along with it!

Haha there would be one eh? I'll try my best!

Trondheim wrote:Now THAT was awesom! May I sell you my soul and my firstsbourn child?

Errr.....I have no money and I'M not buying Trond but I appreciate the offer? Cheers man

spyguyyoda wrote:Yeah, that red came out nice. KEEP IT UP!

I'l try, got some more red clothed fellas coming up soon so keep them eyes peeled!

Chemical Cutthroat wrote:Very very nice with that flag. That's a big chunk of red and you've done a great job of getting that nice and smooth. Excellent work sir.


Also, if you're gonna plug someone's Blog, maybe you could post a link to it as well?

Thank you very much sir, I'm not great at blending colours usually but red is the exception it seems

Sorry, common sense seems to desert me at times I will edit the other post.

Ok folks, I have a choice or you can choose even! I can either get painting warriors of Minas Tirith or Guard of the Fountain Court. Alongside that I will painting an Isildor mini to use as a King of Men during games. You have until tomorrow to decide!

@Deathstreak - yeh I sure will man, my friend is digging out his old LOTR stuff out too so hopefully there are gonna be 4 or 5 of us in my friend group who play, sure to get some scenarios in somewhere

spyguyyoda wrote:Freehand!
Freehand!
Freehand!



I should get off my butt and take pics of my LotR stuff, since that's all I've actually finished lately...

Haha, ok, ok, ok it will come before anything else
Do it! I would love to see anyone else's LOTR mini's, there aren't enough around on here!

Commander Cain wrote:I vote for some guard of the fountain court, love those minis!

Ok one for the GotFC Need some undercoat first though get some from town today on the way to my mates.

Got a cool piece of news, anyone remember Deagostini releaseing 'battles for middle earth' magazine? Well I just picked up issues 12-21 for £2.50 and £1.99 postage on eBay I know Eomer is in there and he alone is what £10 on horseback? WIN I'll show you all the goods when they arrive.

Sharazad wrote:It smells like some of us LOTR fans should organize a meet and battle ^^

Hey Scot, like your Boromir, I always found him an interesting character and am a big fan of Minas Tirith.
You just keep on coming with those pics

S.

That would be great, maybe when everyone is happy with their army, a day out to WW?

Thanks for the kind words Sharazad, any progress to be shared on your Blog?

2000 VIEWS!! CHEERS GUYS AND GALS!!

And your reward??
Well it comes in the form of two battle reports which I am playing tomorrow (Gondor Vs Harad) and friday (Gondor Vs Isengard). In these I will be playing the new missions too

Ok so I haven't posted for a few days but I have been busy!! Promises!! Here have a look :


Guard of the fountain court, the coolest of the cool for me. The scheme is far from the usual so will interested to see what you guys say, still a red highlight, the browns, flesh highlight and a wash over the white to come on these fellas.


The dog soldiers. Still great mini's for me and by far my favourite standard warriors. Pretty much the same left to do on these except their red is all done and they need their white parts doing.

Sorry about the lighting in the pictures, my room's blue walls seem to be tinting the photo's I think, time to find a new spot

Will have more up tomorrow I hope or Friday, maybe even finished products and of course the battle reps!
As always C&C away folks,

And take it easy