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.

THE FELLOWSHIP

One of the first things I wanted to paint after getting back into the hobby was the Fellowship I got in the Mines of Moria box. After 3 years of collecting orcs, I wanted to try my hands on something good. I was surprised I hadn’t lost my painting ability, and it didn’t take too long to familiarize myself with the tricks of the trade. Here’s the results.

This is my favourite model of Boromir. I love the dynamic pose GW have managed to get with him. Comparatively these are my least favourite Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli models. I’m always fond of the Gandalf models.

The hobbit models are great, and are great additions to any collection or scenario. My favourite hobbit from this set has to be Sam, with the string of sausages on his back, whilst wielding a frying pan! I painted Frodo with Sting, as I always wondered why GW never showed that very well when they painted him. He is after all going to be fighting orcs more often than not in a scenario. I even made a separate model for him when he's wearing the ring. I quite like this one.