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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

I like the idea. Do it and post pics

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

Just gotta find the balance between life and hobby. Its a hard one. I work 10-11 hour days, and when I get home I don't tend to want to do anything even remotely cerebral.

Having good friends in the hobby really helps me out. I work so much better and faster when I have someone to hang out with and talk to while I'm painting or assembling.

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

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.

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

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?

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!



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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

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.

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

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.

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


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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

I meant the ones you've already done, the spectre flesh looks great.

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?


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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?

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

Is it simply for all spirits?


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Actually, Spirit Grasp is for WoTR, not SBG

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?



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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?


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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

I like the paintob on those models

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

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.

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

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!

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)?

thumbs up!

S.

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?

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!

ok thx for the advice i am currently working on an elven army and i will hopefully be testing it out tomorrow against DR.What.
Ill tell you how it does

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!

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!


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Long story short:
I love getting GW minis for a lot cheaper!