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Having had a good dig through the boxes, I've put together my March pledge:

For the Forces of Good:
10 Warriors of Minas Tirith
7 Minas Tirith Archers
4 Knights of Minas Tirith
10 Rangers of Gondor
6 Swan Knights of Dol Amroth

For the Forces of Evil:
5 Haradrim Raiders
6 Haradrim Spearmen, Captain and Banner
8 Easterling Archers

A bit less than last month, but some of these will take a lot longer (the cavalry will be a slog, although the KOMT horses are already done).

I may also work on some Half Trolls if I can find suitable models (have 3-4 that could work, but shan't bother unless I can get 6 or so), and I have an unofficial Dain on the way as well, but I'm keeping my pledge strictly Human this month, April will then see me tie up the loose ends of Isengard and Mordor, then it's back to The Iron Hills (converted), Laketown and Gundabad (WGF minis, converted).

EDIT: Went back and added some stuff, turns out this is more than last month! Oh well, the MT stuff should be a breeze and I'm not that lacking for time, so it should be doable.

Also went and added up what this month will bring my Gondor army to model-wise, it's a tad on the large side now! Shan't need any more for a while.



It easily hits 1k points in SBG, and should be able to push 1500 for KoW without too much trouble.

Impressed with myself- managed to block in the colours on my 8 spearmen tonight. Hopefully I maintain momentum and get the highlighting done tomorrow. Could have the whole lot finished by thursday if I'm lucky!

Looking at all the KoW/LOTR stuff I think I will pick up another box so I have 12 of each weapon type for regiments, and another box or two of Riders so I can have multiple regiments.

Tre Manor's Brigand models would make decent rabble, too.

Edit: Aaaand 1 day later, despite being knackered, I have highlighted and washed the lucky eight.

Once the wash dries, I'll do the detailing. Parents evening is tomorrow though. So we'll see how that goes.

Nice progress! I have got 5 WoMT done today, will knock out their fellows tomorrow.

For the KoW conversion, have you found a profile to use for Riders of Rohan? Looking at the Kingdoms of Men list you get Mounted Sergeants (fit pretty well, but can't shoot) or Mounted Scouts (can only be taken in Troops, crap in CC), but I can't find anything that is both competent on the charge and can shoot. I could just split the archers from the rest, but I'd like them to all be able to play 'properly'. I'm having similar problems finding a profile for Khandish and Warg Riders.

I started 10 WoMT archers yesterday. I guess they can be part of the challenge for me. Plan is to get everything done bar the leather and the highlighting of the black cloth parts done by the time I go back to work on Tuesday (long weekend this week) and then I can do the soul-destroying highlighting during my lunch breaks at work - which oddly enough is actually relaxing at work.

Also started on 4 Moria Goblins today to finish a unit, and should have gotten them done (along with finishing 5 undead cavalry), but I was too distracted by Dragon Age: Inquisition for most of the day...

Finished part one of my pledge - got the 8 spearmen done. 6 Riders coming up. I'm actually looking forward to these quite a lot. I like painting horses.

I've also been making some movement trays pretty much inspired by the Rings of War discussion here. Excited to have stuff in a playable state again for the first time since my move to germany!

Went into town and got an Ent too, and another box of Riders. The stock in the local GW is getting low though- I want 1 more box of Riders so I can have 1 unit with spears (Kingdoms of Men Knights), 1 unit with swords (Mounted Sergeants ) and 2 small units with bows (mounted scouts). I also want one more box of Warriors of Rohan to fill my units out to 12 each, but the shop is completely empty of all Rohan kits now. They've also reduced their wall space for LOTR/Hobbit, and both the indy stores have stopped stocking it. Sigh.

Awesome progress! As for grabbing some minis, try Element Game, last I checked they had a fair bit of LotR in stock and at a decent price too (still nothing like the 'Good ol' Days', of course, but better than GW)

I myself have been lax on my pledge, only 5 Gondor Spearmen done. I've been distracted by writing a new ruleset, painting the minis to go with it, and I should have some more sci-fi stuff arriving too... it'll require a concerted effort at somepoint to get back on track....

Work has been mental this last couple of weeks so I am a bit impressed with myself for getting them done to be honest!

Thanks for the Element Games heads up. I was pretty close to pulling the trigger on some stuff from them recently, it's good to get a recommendation from a trustworthy source!

So I kinda failed miserably at my Jan pledge lol. Well I tried but then I didn't like how my metallic paints turned out after I painted the armour on my uruks. So I stopped and that killed my momentum . Anyway, excuses.

This month though I will do something easy and achievable! I'm going to try get Gandalf and Saruman painted. The two wizards! I got this

Finished the 10 WoMT archers 2 days ago. Also finished the 4 goblins with spears as well - along with an additional 8 with swords. (just needing varnish).

Now working on 16 goblin archers, 3 captains, and 3 Prowlers, with a few more of each in the wings in case i manage to finish the initial batch...

Even though I did not finish my February Pledge, it did get me a lot closer to finishing it had it been otherwise.

I am pretty sure that I can get that unit of 36 Goblins/Orcs finished by the end of March.

I only have bits and pieces at this point to finish (Individual weapons on a few, skin touch-ups, shields on 11 of them), get the standard finished (for which I need to do a test, to see if a trick I learned when I was younger for doing cloth textures on models still works), and then basing them.

That will only leave 96 Greater-Goblins, 124 Lesser Goblins, 16 Wolf/Warg-Riders, and 8 Trolls (Plus 20 Command Figures)...

I am never going to finish these!

MB

That is a lot of stuff to get done!

I found another box of Riders of Rohan in the Stuttgart GW, but their LOTR stock is also suspiciously low. Very similar miniatures left there as to the Dusseldorf GW - Dwarf Warriors, an Ent, a Balrog, a Ringwraith on Fell Beast, some Warriors of Minas Tirith, some elves and some Army of the Dead.

What are GW up to I wonder? Selling down the last of the LOTR range?

Yeah, I think the in-store LotR range is going to continually dwindle over the next few months. The (pretty credible) rumours about HH plastics mentioned that the new 30k range would be replacing the LotR/Hobbit range on the shelves, while the latter go Direct Only. Not so bad for LotR as Ebay is still flooded with it, but it's probably a good idea to grab any Hobbit stuff you want before it vanishes.

As for the challenge, I guess I'm going to have to call this month a pretty catastrophic failure, having completed only 5 LotR minis this month. Distractions in 80s Fantasy minis and new Eldar Harlequins have left little time for LotR, so I think I'm just going to carry my to-do pile over to next month, when I'll hopefully be able to blast through a few more.

Man, so GW's best range is going to get cleared out for Moar Marines? Lame.

I hate using Ebay, but I suppose I can order stuff online from some places - maybe even GW themselves. Still a massive disappointment that they can't even keep the basic plastic kits in stock.

Funny... I love eBay compared to GW.

I can get LotR stuff for around ½ price (or less).

But I think that I own all the LotR stuff I am ever going to need.

And I will eventually be replacing most of it with my own Sculpts (Or the few Tom Meier Sculpts from Thunderbolt Mountain - just Elves at this point).

The GW LotR dwarves, though, are probably some of the best of the line. At least the older ones... I am not so sure about The Hobbit lines. They seem "off" somehow.

MB

Woohoo!!!

The Hithaeglir Greater-Goblin unit is almost finished...

I just have 9 shield patterns, one standard, and the basing to finish to have the unit done.

MB

 Azazelx wrote:
Finished the 10 WoMT archers 2 days ago. Also finished the 4 goblins with spears as well - along with an additional 8 with swords. (just needing varnish).

Now working on 16 goblin archers, 3 captains, and 3 Prowlers, with a few more of each in the wings in case i manage to finish the initial batch...

Got my varnish. The 8 Moria Goblin swords are now done, and they've been incorporated into their unit base. (with a few left over). 8 of the Goblin Archers are about 70-80% done, with the other 8 needing significantly more work still. 3 Metal Goblin captains almost done.
Also started 7 Gondor war machine crew on Sunday. They're about 80% done, with all the pain in the arse highlighting of black cloth finished today at work. Just flesh, hilts, hair and belts to go.

Hopefully I'll get all 26 of these finished by the end of the weekend. Here's to hoping!

What is going on with the arms of the artillery?

MB

Those prowlers look pretty good- better than mine, which I intend on repainting this year some time.

Good job on the heavy goblins BeAfraid.

I'm still too wiped from work to make any progress on my Riders of Rohan, but I have cleared some time on Sunday to finish them off before I go home to Ireland for a while.

BeAfraid wrote:
What is going on with the arms of the artillery?

MB

Blu-tac. I used paint pots to support the arms while I painted and washed the rest of it.

 Da Boss wrote:
Those prowlers look pretty good- better than mine, which I intend on repainting this year some time.

Good job on the heavy goblins BeAfraid.

I'm still too wiped from work to make any progress on my Riders of Rohan, but I have cleared some time on Sunday to finish them off before I go home to Ireland for a while.

Thanks.

I have been meaning to get another WIP shot of them just before I start working on basing them, but I still haven't got the shields and Army Standard painted yet (I have been busy trying to figure out the general's name, and the runes for it, as well as some brag for his standard, as well as what kind of Vulture to use on his standard - it is just going to be a simplified white abstract of a vulture, but you would be surprised at the variations in vultures that exist).

And... I have Riders of Rohan I am struggling to get finished as well.

I have most of one unit of 18 finished (but I have three units of 18), and I have almost all of the models cleaned and primed. But collectively, the army has six units total, three of the regular riders, one of Royal Guard, One of Light Horse Archers, and one of Non-Éored organized riders (you would need to read the short-story in Unfinished Tales to get the organization of the Army - Éoherë - of Rohan).

The Rohirrim are my favorite miniatures from the LotR line.

MB

 Da Boss wrote:
Those prowlers look pretty good- better than mine, which I intend on repainting this year some time.

You can't really see much on them in that shot, and even in hand they're pretty dark and unexciting. I've got another blister of them, so I'll probably paint those as well before taking any pics of the first batch.

BeAfraid wrote:

I have been meaning to get another WIP shot of them just before I start working on basing them, but I still haven't got the shields and Army Standard painted yet (I have been busy trying to figure out the general's name, and the runes for it, as well as some brag for his standard, as well as what kind of Vulture to use on his standard - it is just going to be a simplified white abstract of a vulture, but you would be surprised at the variations in vultures that exist).

Just take a shot and get it up. It's not supposed to be perfect - that's what WIP is for. Feedback, encouragement and motivation.


I've got 8 of the archers finished today, as well as those three prowlers. Bolt Thrower is almost done now as well, and have done some more work on the second batch of 8 archers. Hopefully tomorrow they'll all be done as well...

The other 8 Goblin archers done, Bolt Thrower done, 7 Gondor WM crew done. Just the three captains to go and it's onto the next stuff. Found more half-painted goblins, so probably going to do those to the point where I can field 2x12 of each of the three goblin types (Blade/Spear/Bow). I'll have to paint something else though in between once I finish the three captains. I need a reward after powering through all of those figures.

I've got a nice C23 Ogre and a Troll Slayer close to finished. Not LotR of course, but a nice break from the trash mobs I've been painting.


...aaaaand done!

I don't have the stamina left to power through the next batch of goblins right now. Though I have just started assembling the Avenger Bolt Thrower, so I'll see if I can get that done before the month ends.

Damn, Az, all this progress is making me jealous! I've been in a complete rut paint-wise for the last week or so!

Pillars of eternity has somewhat sabotaged my progress. Need to knuckle down before tonight's D'n'D game!

 Paradigm wrote:
Damn, Az, all this progress is making me jealous! I've been in a complete rut paint-wise for the last week or so!

Pah! You somehow get done in a week what it takes me three months to get through!

Good news is that it now looks like that Avenger Bolt Thrower will get finished tomorrow. Waiting on the sand to dry now (will leave it overnight, since it's 11:43pm) and will hit it with the black ink first thing when I get up. Once that's done, I can glue the bolt thrower down, finish the steel, ink the steel, paint the "bowstring" (more like a rope, but anyway), ink that, and then spray varnish the lot. Then glue some tufts to it at the end of the day.

Arrg!

Will I get the basing done on my Goblins by Tuesday???

That is pretty much all that remains to do on them (well, and glue some aberrant shields onto the miniatures).

They would be done if I have not got side-tracked with working on filling in the base-colors on the entire Greater-Goblin component of the army, and organizing the Lesser-Goblins into proper units.

Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock-Tick-Tock- . . .

The hardest part of finishing will be waiting for the styrene putty on the bases to dry before painting it.

But once it's dries sufficiently to hold paint, it is only nine bases to paint, and then stick flocking and grass clumps to.

MB

Just knuckle down. No internets before the putty is applied. or when some part of it is doable.

Got my Avenger Bolt Thrower finished today, as a "bonus" figure for the month. Since I only started it yesterday, I'm happy I managed to finish it so quickly.

The one shown in the pic above that got finished earlier is an old GW one from 3rd-ed era, originally sold with both Dwarves and Orcs, and generic enough to be used by most anyone, so for the time being it'll be used when the Moria Goblins march (scuttle?) to (Ko)War.

Going out tomorrow (taking my Mum to the Zoo) so I won't be doing anything LotR-related at all.

So for April, I'll start my challenge with the 24 additional Moria Goblins that I need to completely repaint (they are half-painted eBay fodder) and 5 Metal Moria Goblins that shall be used as Unit Leaders/Captains. Add to that 2 each of the Blackroot Vale Banners and Musician models that will complete two units I'm using as Rangers of Ithilien.

That's 33 for the month - more than enough to start with, and I actually have a chance of pulling them off. (so to speak!) I'll also work on some stuff that's more fun, since those gobboes get more than a mite tedious.

After the last one of these helped motivate me to finish a whole lot of (mostly tedious) stuff done in a reasonably fast (for me) timeframe, I've decided to go again.

https://youtu.be/eN7oXHNV058?t=5s
(Slightly NSFW at the end)


This week's end/weekend project - See if I can finish off these figures by Sunday night:

Posting here since this is the place that spawned this type of successful challenge for me, and because they're almost all LotR models. 8 Moria Goblin Archers that I got half-painted and am ending up giving a full repaint to (already did the bases), and 7 metals that will act as Captains or at the very least, KoW unit leaders. For pleasure, there's a Dwarven Slayer and C23 Ogre that were both started 10+ years ago that I've started doing some work on again lately. So only 17 in this batch to try and get done in the next 3 1/2 days. Do Old-school Citadel Ogres work as any kind of troop type in LotR/SBG? They kinda seem like they should. Less-PJ-ish Trolls, maybe...

If I manage to get these done in time, I've got 2 units of cavalry I want to get rid of, since they're taking up valuable space by being half-painted in one of my cabinets. But that's my next self-challenge.

So, yeah. I spent the weekend chilling out and playing Pillars of Eternity and Dungeons and Dragons, so I never got my Riders of Rohan painted for this month. I got my 8 Warriors of Rohan with Spears done, though, so I'm not a total failure.

I did put together some Conquest Games Norman Warriors as Warriors of Minas Tirith to go with my RBG Aenglish though, so I am giving myself some points for that

I also made an Ent, who was surprisingly annoying to make and surprisingly tall when finished!

But then I got a plane to Ireland and I've been bumming around Dublin since then, so no painting. Checked the Dublin GW and they also have a similar selection of stuff to the Dusseldorf GW and Stuttgart GW, so I reckon that must be just what they are keeping in stock. Would be too much of a coincidence for them all to have similar stock, right?

Azazelx: Ogres would probably work fine as Cave Trolls - smaller than Mordor Trolls but still big and strong and running around on a 40mm base.

Still sounds like a decent number of figures done for the month. I'd love to see some pics of them.
Also, hanging around Dublin sounds like a well worthwhile option over painting. After all, you can paint almost any time!

I've gotten the 8 Goblin Archers done so far, as well as 5 of the Metals/Captains. 2 more of those to go, so hopefully later today. Not sure if I'll get the Ogre and Dwarf done, though - especially since they're more "important" models as opposed to "horde" models like the Moria Goblins, and as such will need me to take my time a little/lot more. Still, if I manage to finish at least one of them, I'l be happy.