FATE OF THE WITCH KING

Finally! I've managed to create a Witch King model with a little gravitas. I never liked the models they released for him as none of them looked as cool as he did in the movie. Personally, I think this new model is simply, badass. To start with, I decided early on that he'd need to be set on a larger cavalry base. I know this isn't strictly within the rules, but it isn't technically outside of them either, as far as I know. It just seems to fit better. I wouldn't do this for another run of the mill captain. To give him a little lift, I used another piece of slate from the garden to act as a podium. Green stuffed onto the base, I placed a few scattered skulls around it to add a feeling of dread. I started with the special edition Fate of the Witch King model, which you can still buy from GW. A quick sawing off of the limbs and hands, and he's ready.

To get the pose just right was the main aim for this model. I wanted him to be posed just as he falls off his fell beast, and openly chalenges Eowyn to a duel. He holds his flail in one hand, and his sword in the other. After repositioning his left arm, I could then give him his weapons. The flail was made using his left hand and flail, replacing the chain with a real chain I managed to get from a jewellers.

After I moulded his sword back into his right hand, and a black undercoat, he was ready for painting!

This model was very simple to paint, as there's only three colours really. Drybrush codex grrey over the black on his robes, leadbelcher for the metal areas and bestial brown for the skulls. A black wash was needed for the robes after this, and a wash mix of black and scorched brown for the metal areas for a slightly rusted, dirty look. The skulls were layered with snakebite leather then bleached bone. For the final parts, the metal areas were highlighted with chainmail and the skulls were picked out with skull white. The base was finished to a typical standard of my army, with the rock podium being drubrushed with codex grey, fortress grey and white... And here he is. Now for the fell beast...

And to go with him, I thought it'd be best to finish Merry and Eowyn too...

BATTLEFIELD & OBJECTIVE MARKERS

I built my scenery board years ago to represent Amon Hen in a way. I have no idea why I did this, as I had neither an Uruk Hai army or the Fellowship at the time… But it has served me well. I used simple techniques with MDF, polystyrene insulation sheets, pet store sand and grit and Dulux paints. I’m in the middle of making my new Osgiliath board, and I’ll keep that posted as it’s evolving. 

To go with any scenario I could think of, on this board or any other, I made a few simple objective markers; fallen heroes, campfire, strategic point, weapons pile and treasured item.

The strategic point was made using one of the statues that come with the small ruins box. This was just put onto a cavalry base and decorated with long grass and sponge.

 

The fallen hero was made using the scenic base that came with my Pelennor Gothmog. It didn't suit either of my new models so I thought it would be the perfect for a scenario.

The weapons pile was made for my own version of Escape from Goblin Town set in Ithilien. It can work for both good and evil, which is why there's a massive troll hammer wedged into the ground among some scattered Osgiliath bricks. The campfire was made using balsa wood and rocks from the garden. I'm working on a better one with actual flames and smoke.

Lastly there's the treasured item, which takes the form of The One Ring! I didn't have any beads lying around the house, so had to make it out of gree stuff. I also didn't have any gold paint at the time (not very prepared) so mixed sunburst yellow with chainmail. It gave the right sort of effect.

GOTHMOG MOUNTED ON WARG CHIEFTAIN

To give my army a leader who both looked impressive and intimidating and could act as a force to be reckoned with, I chose Gothmog. Trouble is, I wasn’t satisfied with any of the individual models GW brought out for him, so I decided to make customize my own. As soon as the Warg Chieftain, or Alpha Warg model came out, I knew I had to have an Orc hero mounted on him. So that’s what I did. I've never seen it done before, so I'm actually quite proud of this one.

The model below is made up of the Warg Chieftain model and Gothmog Pelennor version, which comes with a different warg. The warg itself was made to look more dynamic by basing his already sculpted base on some slate from the garden, this gave it extra height and more balance.  A saddle and strap had to be made so Gothmog could sit comfortably on him. Finally after some green stuff around the joints and sawing a small section of mane off, he was ready. This is the result…

And just to show how intimidating he looks, I posed him next to an average height Osgiliath Veteran of mine. Huge.

And of course, no mounted model would be complete without the separate models. The warg acts quite nicely as a Wild Alpha Warg in certain scenarios.

COMPANY OF HEROES - ORC CAPTAINS

I try to convert or customize every hero or captain I get for my army, as it just gives the whole force a bit more character and gives each model a bit of a story. The following models represent captains in my Mordor force.

The First captain I ever converted was based on the captain at The Battle of the Pelennor Fields in the movies. I named him Skully. He’s made from the first Orc Captain GW released, with a skull from an Uruk Hai Shaman on his helmet. His pick was extended using some copper rod. It’s interesting to note that 90% of all my conversions were made before GW released official models for them. I swear they’ve been following me for years…

My second captain was made to lead my Uruk Hai into battle. He was named Morg, the Depressor by my friend as a joke, and it just stuck. This guy is a monster in combat, with three strikes with a fight value and strength of 5, I confidently send him toe to toe with all but the best good heroes. He was made from the Shagrat model, with his duel axes being made from Easterling spear heads, and his head that of an Uruk regular, with an added mail bandana over his face. Mean.

Another Orc Captain was based on the Grishnakh model, who was souped up. I gave him a shield, an Isengard Uruk sword and the helmet off Frodo in orc armor. His name is Ratbag.

My force is divided into units. I never went in for the War of the Ring game, as opposed to the SBG, as I feel it defeats the point of a skirmish game, and is not why I got into this in the first place. Each unit in my army has 24 models, including one with a banner, led by a captain; three units of Orcs, one of Morannon Orcs and one of Uruk Hai. I also have a smaller Warg / Warg Rider pack and a unit of Trolls with full command. Anyway, another Orc Captain, Gorgeous George, was made using the new(ish) Orc Taskmaster. I wanted to have a brute orc who could carry a huge axe. I had to sculpt a lot of this model, including his entire left arm, covered in chainmail, and his right hand. I made the axe out of copper rod and a bit of sprue for the blade. I also cut off one of his ears and painted just one eye to give him a really grizzled look. I love the red skin, which is fairly unique to my army. He’s one of my favourites.

A captain I very recently completed was for my catapults. Evil players, never underestimate the ability of a catapult in battle. I know they're expensive, but when coupled with severed heads and a captain, maybe a troll for the larger battles, they can really mess up a good battle formation. Especially when you include a ringwraith or troll drummer to lessen the good courage... Anyway, Gorbag served nicely for this model, who I named Snaga, as he's supposed to be less able in battle, hence why he's been put in charge of the seige equipment. The only unique feature on him is the white scar on his face.

 

The leader of my Morannon Orcs. I caught a brief glimpse of an orc in Minas Tirith armor in one of the films and I thought that would make the perfect character for my army, as I mostly fought Gondorian armies. I named him Scrotrot for no good reason. He is based on one of the Minas Tirith Captains, with the head from Sam in orc armor. His mace was from an old conversion sprue I got in a Battle for Middle Earth magazine. Half of his right arm had to be re-sculpted. Long dreads completed the model.

The After I converted my new Gothmog model to be mounted on a great warg, I wasa left with the old miniature. I decided that after seeing his Uruk luitenant in the ROTK film in heavy armor, I would do the same. My current uruk hai captain with two axes needed a makeover. I used the body of the old Gothmog and onto that I glued Shagrat's head and left arm. The rest I had to fill wih green stuff, such as the shoulder armor on the left arm, and the long flowing blonde hair. The axes were harvested from my old conversion. He won't act as a seperate model, but as a revamped version of an old, faithful captain. I give you Blondie!