Warriors of Harad

These two bowmen from the semi-arid plains of Harad were test pieces to explore colour themes. The ruins are also a GW product, their "Lord of the Rings Terrain Pack".

The ruins were sprayed with Army Painter's "Skeleton Bone" primer and then stained with Minwax Walnut. They look suitably "ancient sandstone", which will work nicely with the Haradrim army.

The men were primed with Army Painter's "Dragon Red" and then block-painted with assorted Humbrol, Vallejo, Floquil (the bright gold metal) and GW paints, before receiving a thinned wash of Minwax - too thin as it turns out, but then, we live and we learn.

I'm happy with the results - colourful, moderately detailed and quick - so the rest of the army will eventually get a similar paint job. Eventually.

Easterlings (iii)

Yup, more of Sauron's best human troops. This time we have none other than Khamul The Easterling, one of the ringwraiths:

He is accompanied off the work bench by a batch of 12 archers, led by captain Akram.

After the pikemen and kataphracts, I was getting bored with the red-blue cloth arrangement, so the archers have purple cloth with a red wash and dark red highlights. Something marginally different for me to paint and they still blend just fine with the other soldiers.

Easterlings (ii)

The next block of Easterlings - Captain Jashanmal and his pikemen.

I used acrylics for the metal this time - GW's Chainmail (old range) and Hashut Copper (new range).

Easterlings

With Thranduil and his elves cleared away, it is time to get some paint on the men of the Rhunish kingdoms, better known as Easterlings. These dudes are probably the best organised and equipped military force available to Sauron.

A few minutes spent before the shrine of all knowledge that is called "Google" left me with half a dozen screen shots and photos taken during production of the Lord of the Rings movies, giving me some ideas for paint schemes.

And here are the first batch, a mix of infantry and cavalry.

Captain Ashraf waves his infantry forwards:

Captain Camran leads a force of kataphracts, including a drummer and standard bearer:

All together now:

Enemy straight ahead - a cat chooses to investigate:

The maroon cloth was painted by using GW's Mechrite Red foundation paint as a base, washing with Leviathan Purple and then highlighting with Vallejo's Purple. The armour was painted with Testor's Steel enamel and drybrushed with Testor's Brass enamel. Overall, I think I managed to find a low-effort way to make my Easterlings look like the ones in the movies.

Defenders of Mirkwood

With the release of The Hobbit by GW, we've rekindled interest in Lord of the Rings skirmishing at our local store. That seemed like a good reason to reduce the stash, starting with a force that could be completely assembled and painted in a reasonable time (so, not the Dwarfs, of which I have well over a hundred figures that need painting).

First up are the Wood Elves of Mirkwood, led by king Thranduil, his son Legolas and captain Amarthon. They are leading a force of 24 warriors with bows, elf blades and spears (this used to be the contents of a single box, for the princely sum of $25. Oh, how things have changed), a standard bearer and 3 sentinels, who lurk in the shadows and distract unwanted visitors with enchanted music.

Avanti Savoia!

After a short gap (about 2 years) my brave carristi are getting some support in their struggles against the Inglesi for control of Egypt and Libya.

I decided to assemble and paint all of my desert Italians, so I could claim that a complete force was finished. Progress was good at first, with all the models being assembled and primed, ready for painting. Alas, best laid plans and all that...I discovered that I did not have enough motociclisti for the 1940-1941 lists, so an order was placed with Eureka (on a Saturday, models arrived in the post on Monday). Then Christmas intervened, then we started playing The Hobbit at the store and, well, there are some Italians in a tub, waiting for colour to be added.

Anyway, the tally before Thranduil's Elves invaded the paint bench was: one battery of 100mm howitzers; one battery of 75mm cannon; five AB-41 armoured cars; a platoon of four Semoventi di 47/32; four field cars (transports for elefantino anti-tank guns); the fourth 20mm AAA gun with truck or ground mount for the Bersagliere AAA platoon and a test piece each for the elefantinos and the motociclisti.

And now the pictures - first up, the assembled miniatures:

the armoured cars:

the Semoventi:

Fiats:

Howitzers and cannon:

test pieces:

Paints came from White Ensign Models, Tamiya, Vallejo and Andrea. I brushed on thinned Army Painter Dark Tone dip, which shades everything and also gives a very hard protective coat. As far as I can see, the stuff is just rebranded solvent-based wood stain, which is what I will be buying when the tin dries up.

And now, back to Thranduil and company.

Kill The Dwarves!

Fresh from the workbench...the Goblin king and his minions swarm onto the throne platform, ready to rend the hapless Dwarves of Thorin's company limb from limb.

Closer shots of the king:

And the scribe, who evidently lives in this swing contraption:

These are the scenery and goblins from Games Workshop's new "The Hobbit" boxed set. The boxed set is fantastic value for money and the models are, as one would expect from GW, first rate and a joy to paint.