LOTR game and project updates

Easter Sunday LOTR Game

My son and two nephews and I had a little time to play some more Strategy Battle Game on Easter Sunday. We had roughly 50 combatants on either side, Orcs, Warg Riders, and Uruk hai against Elves and Dwarves, plus Gandalf, Gimli, and Frodo...My son and I played the Forces of Evil, while my two nephews controlled the short and the pointy-eared. I didn't get to stay with the game the entire time due to family obligations, so things didn't progress the way I'd have liked them to...

Basically, the Elven and Dwarven archers ate us up on our left flank, while Gandalf ripped apart our right flank. My son had set up our evil forces a little too spread out, so by the time I got them formed into ranks they were already being decimated. Our Warg riders ran into trouble from the archers as well, and we apparently lost half of them when I wasn't around...

Thankfully, we didn't get to finish the game and see the rest of our army obliterated...

I didn't get to take any pictures, sorry...

Some projects

I recently remembered that I had 6 metal orcs I had gotten in a deal to go along with my 24 Mordor orcs. I got all 30 out the other day and got them as far as black primer. I hope to start painting those this week. We had to play with them yesterday as "Dark Orcs" in their black primered stage because we didn't have enough Evil...

I also remembered that Lurtz was a part of that deal, so I primered him as well...hope to get him finished before our next game. I really want some of the Uruk Hai scouts...

I ordered the Warriors of Minas Tirith for my son for Easter, but they didn't make it in time...should see those sometime this week. And while I was ordering, I went ahead and got myself some Warriors of Rohan!

Kudos

Both my Nephews have been working hard on their LOTR stuff. One has repainted his elves, and significantly improved them...the other has been trying his hand at making some buildings and terrain. He made a great Hobbit Shire hut, a Wizard's Tower, some ruins, and a variety of trees...some very nice work from two young gamers!

Huge LOTR SBG Battle!

Well, this is the night we'd been waiting for all of last week. My son and I got together with our father/son friends, and two of my nephews joined us for a massive Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game session! Without further ado, I give you...

The forces of Good: 32 High Elves, 32 Wood Elves, 24 Dwarf Warriors, Balin, and Balin's Guard.

Balin and Balin's Guard..tough little guys that held their own for Good...

The forces of Evil, minus an Orc unit we forgot to put out until right after we started...Tons of Uruk Hai, Colton's newly completed Warg Riders, some Goblins, a Mordor Troll, and one Ring Wraith...

 My nephews, Connor and Levi, advancing our forces of Good...

My son, Colton, being very serious about how he wanted the goblin and orc archers to move...

Colton's Warg Riders lead the charge!!

The objective was to occupy and defend the Elven Shrine in the middle of the table...The narrow passages it created on either side made for a lot of close combat...

Some of the dwarves and elves head for the shrine, while the archers wait patiently for the enemy to come into range...

The Wargs attempt what was almost a suicidal charge...

Three of the Wargs were cut down by the archers almost immediately...

The Uruk Hai forming up their battle line...

On the other side of the battle, my Wood Elves and High Elves dash for the back entrance to the shrine, and the archers prepare for the onslaught of orcs and Uruk Hai...

Back on the far side, the battle is in full heat, with the Wargs attacking the closest forces of Good..

My High Elves began a barrage of arrows that turned out to be almost completely ineffective. Apparently my elves have been taking archery practice with Gimli instead of Legolas...

The boys have their best game faces on!!

The Uruk Hai come crashing into the elves and dwarves for some fierce hand to hand...

On my side, the orcs and that fierce Mordor Troll clash with my front line of High Elves...

The troll was a monster, twice killing three of my elves at once! Before the end of the game, though, they had inflicted 2 of the necessary 3 wounds to kill him...

One decent shot of the battle in it's entirety..

Unfortunately, after 3 1/2 hours we had to call it quits. Looking at the casualties piles (which were large) we judged it a draw. However, as far as the objective went, the forces of Good were definitely in control of the shrine...

A great time for everybody! Really excited to see my two young nephews very into the game with a good working knowledge of the rule system already!

Warg Riders progress

My son has been working diligently on his Warg Riders...here's a quick update on his progress.

At this point they've been painted and dipped with a medium brown stain. No matte finish on the ones pictured, so they're still pretty shiny...

There are six in all...2 with sword, 2 with spear, 2 with bow...

I wish he'd gone with a little more variety for color, but I let him paint them the way he wanted...they are, after all, his Warg Riders.

I think he's done a pretty good job for a 7 yr old...I do hope to get another set for me and try my hand at them. But lots of other projects at the moment!

Last Alliance Elves Finished!!

I finally got the time to finish my 16 Last Alliance Elves...Hopefully, they'll be pressed into service tomorrow night against a horde of Uruk Hai and Orcs. But not to worry...they'll have about 48 Wood Elves and 48 Dwarf Warriors to aid them, as well as another 16 Last Alliance Elves!

They aren't quite as dark in person as they appear in the pictures...I just haven't gotten my lighting quite right!

I dipped them in a medium brown Minwax stain...It seemed to work better than the darker one I used on my Wood Elves.

Like I said, they're not as dark as they appear here...

The battle line...

All things considered, I had a lot of fun with these. I enjoyed working with the brighter colors and learning to use the gold a little bit. The swords were done with FolkArt aluminum, the hilts and bows with FolkArt coffee bean...

Helping my son finish up his Warg Riders...Pics of those coming soon!

Think I'm going to start some Mordor Orcs next...we need more bad guys!