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I'd like to get a few LoTR sets from GW. How do the LoTR/Hobbit mini's stack up when compared current GW mini's, GW mini's at the time, and fantasy models in general?

Specifically, I'm looking at these sets:

Warriors of Minas Tirith- https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Warriors-of-Minas-Tirith
Knights of Minas Tirith- https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Knights-of-Minas-Tirith
Mordor Orcs- https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Mordor-Orcs

The sculpts don't look quite as nice as current stuff (obviously), but is it that much worse?

What are your favorite LoTR/Hobbit mini's and which sets would be fun to start with? I mostly get GW mini's for modelling/painting first, playing second...so army building/coherent units isn't important to me.

Most of the models are cast as one or two peices; they're cheaper and easier to assemble but there are weird consequences (the most noticeable is usually arms that flow too smoothly into each other or into torsos). They're not as nice as current stuff but they're also far from the worst models GW's still selling; older models aren't far off most of the Empire range and newer ones are a bit nicer.

If army building/coherent units aren't as much of a concern I don't think there's that much to recommend one option over another; I might suggest going for Rohan or Osgiliath (rangers!) over Minas Tirith as human armies since they aren't so monochromatically shiny.

You also have to remember that all those sculpts are over 10 years old now, but hold up to standards very well for their age. If it's just plastics you're after however, just go to ebay. You can find orcs and minas tirith plastics for pretty much give away prices.

Some of the newer Hobbit plastics are really great - The Rivendell cavalry is a real stand-out for me, wonderful models!

But the old LOTR stuff is pretty good too - They are less "heroic scale" than Warhammer models, which for me is a BIG plus.

The overall standard of sculpting across the range is much higher, but is dating a little now. However, the cheapness of second hand more than makes up for this.

Human races can be easily subbed with plastic historical boxes and have stuff added to make them more fantastic, if required.

One thing to note is even where the sculpts suffer (in comparison to modern GW, simply due to the technical limits at the time), the attention to detail is simply superb. Every model from the most basic Moria Goblin or Mordor Orc up to the likes of Aragorn or Saruman are sculpted with amazing accuracy to the films' costume and prop design, and in the case of characters, barring the very earliest metals, the facial likenesses are genuinely noticeable.


Honestly, if you're going for painting over playing, grab a handful of your favourite characters from the movies. Thanks to a magazine collection GW ran back in the day, some variant of almost every major character can be got dirt cheap second hand, so those are the place to start, Painting any character mini from a range is nice, but with these, you've got the chance to really bring to life the actual characters from the movies and books exactly how you remember them,

A few favourites of mine that can be had cheaply in metal on Ebay are King Theoden, Gandalf The Grey, Galadriel, Aragorn (The Two Towers version in light armour), Boromir in Heavy Armour, Eowyn in armour and the original Bilbo Baggins. All fantastic sculpts that should be pretty easy to get your hands on.

 AnomanderRake wrote:
If army building/coherent units aren't as much of a concern I don't think there's that much to recommend one option over another; I might suggest going for Rohan or Osgiliath (rangers!) over Minas Tirith as human armies since they aren't so monochromatically shiny.

Actually, there is no "Osgiliath" list. The Rangers and Osgiliath Veterans are all part of the Minias Tirith list.

 mdauben wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:
If army building/coherent units aren't as much of a concern I don't think there's that much to recommend one option over another; I might suggest going for Rohan or Osgiliath (rangers!) over Minas Tirith as human armies since they aren't so monochromatically shiny.

Actually, there is no "Osgiliath" list. The Rangers and Osgiliath Veterans are all part of the Minias Tirith list.

This is true. The lore/artistic concept/models in an Osgiliath-themed force would be different from a shinier Minas Tirith-themed force, however.

 mdauben wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:
If army building/coherent units aren't as much of a concern I don't think there's that much to recommend one option over another; I might suggest going for Rohan or Osgiliath (rangers!) over Minas Tirith as human armies since they aren't so monochromatically shiny.

Actually, there is no "Osgiliath" list. The Rangers and Osgiliath Veterans are all part of the Minias Tirith list.

there was such a list in LoME.

As everyone has stated, the plastics are great but showing their age. However, my personal favorite is the metal models. The metal models are superb, even if they are old. Take a look at the metal characters, hobbits, or wraiths for starters. (Ignore the Mines of Moria Starter Set Fellowship sculpts).

I was very close to jumping on a bid on Ebay for 20 of Haldir's Elves, the metal version of the galadhrim elves. They are, along with the Ruffians and Hobbits, my favourite warrior sculpts.

From the list you mentioned, Warriors and Knights of Minas Tirith and Mordor Orcs, the warriors and orcs suffer lower quality shield-bearers. This is easily forgivable when the models are painted and arrayed in battle formation. All of the models you listed are great fun to paint and to look at. Even if Minas Tirith is " all of three colours", they look very handsome and have a different appeal than the orcs or Rohan offer.