My second entry for the painting challenge was for the Nostalgia Bonus theme round - I decided to paint up Gandalf...
When I get nostalgic about my gaming, and think back to those early days and where it all began, there is always one character that shines out above the rest... and that character, is Gandalf.
I think it was back in 1982, when I was 12, that I first read the Hobbit... and that book, not surprisingly fired my imagination and set my feet firmly on the road to eventually becoming a gamer...Gandalf was there in that story, and remained with me as I subsequently read my way through the Lord of the Rings... and those inspirations eventually lead inexorably to the world of D&D and starting to collect and paint miniatures... and back then in the 80's GW brought out an LOTR range long before the movies were ever made... and I started collecting and playing with those figures... found memories, even though those figures are long since sold off, largely due to the recent movie matching range that GW subsequently produced. And now I find it quite comforting in a way to have come along the gaming road some 30 years later and I am still as enamored of this character as I was back then... the Movies from PJ, and the casting of Sir Ian McKellan could not have personified a Gandalf better that matched the figure my mind had imagined. I still recall tearing up as I saw Gandalf ride his cart into Hobbiton that first time... and again when he fell from the bridge at Khazad Dum, even though I already knew he didnt actually die then! I guess I have remained affectionately bound to the character of Gandalf, as these years and still remain so now, and still enjoy watching Sir Ian's portrayal of the character every time I re-watch the movies... For me there is no better definition of Nostalgia, as Gandalf. The figure I present is the mounted pose, from the recent range of LOTR figures from GW, matching the movie characters. This pose is relatively rare, and now sadly long OOP. So getting your hands on one is not an easy task, and they still command quite high 2nd hand values subsequently.
I was very fortunate in acquiring this figure last year in way of a trade online, with none other than Tim Kulinski - he of authorship fame of the Legends of the High Seas rules - a wonderful pirate skirmish set, based on the Core LOTR SBG game. Due to GW's strange business practices... the withdrawal of Warhammer Historical, loss of the product range, and subsequent poor treatment, and lack of any apparent real support to the LOTR/Hobbit games system, Tim had understandably decided to wash his hands of GW, and no longer play LOTR, and thus sell off his collection... and subsequently he offered me his Gandalf, as part of a large bundle of figure trades... and consequently two parcels winged their corresponding ways across the Pacific... and so, there I had in my hands, finally, a mounted Gandalf the Grey. But with a typical backlog of figures I was working through, Gandalf found his place in the lead pile and patiently waited his turn... And thus in summary, now I am pleased to have finally finished him and the Nostalgia round was the perfect excuse to get him painted up and finished! A relatively simple paint job as matches the grab colours the character is named for! Getting the face right was a little tricky under the brim of his large hat, and sadly doesn't show well in the pictures due to the angle of the pose. But its there I assure you! ;-) I do look forward to giving him a try out in the game, a mounted wizard gives the character better mobility, raised line of sight for spell casting and a bit of a buff to his meager combat prowess, gaining the bonus of a cavalry charge... the 10pts spent on the horse are well worth it! And though he may have taken what seems an age to grace my game table, I guess I can sum this by quoting the character himself; "A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins!..Nor is he early... He arrives precisely when he means too!" ;-)
I am still working away with several models, but my folks are visiting with us at the mo', so hobby time has come to a halt until they leave next weekend. I'll hopefully get back in to the swing of things after that...
My first entry for the painting Competition this year: (as copied across from AH blog)
"Just a quick post to say I am alive and well and contributing as best as I am able...
I 'break my duck' with a couple of 15mm Flames of War German half tracked recce vehicles, the SdKfz 250/9...
A recce vehicle mounting a 2cm main gun, backed up by Co-ax MG, on a small half-tracked chassis...
I 'picked these up' about middle of last year when my son bought these 2nd hand from the bring and buy stall as a prezzy for me, at the Panzerschrek tournie in Palmy North here in NZ... he's a good lad :)
Quick and easy to paint I figured I would lash some paint on them to get some points rolling in the challenge... a meager start but at least I am still breathing...
Funnily enough it wasn't until I had undercoated and base coated the vehicles that I noticed one had lost part of its front mud guard. This was quickly painted up as battle damage as I couldn't be bothered to try and correct it then!
More ambitious things in the pipeline, so watch this space... I've got a Mumak on the go, and am half way through assembling Smaug... fingers crossed I get them done in time..."
Curt's kind response... Nicely done Scott and welcome back for this year's journey. As usual your muted camo looks fabulous. I've always had a soft spot for WWII German recce vehicles - they always looked so much more modern and nasty than most of the clunkers the Allies used. 12 points for you as we await your Mumak (the Tiger of LotR).
Its that time of year, and once again I find myself taking part in the annual painting frenzy that is Curt's wonderful Painting challenge. 3 months of painting figures commencing 20th December and ending 20th March, or there abouts...
I must confess my blogging, painting and hobby time has taken a dent this year, with new time pressures of work, and that will continue through the challenge. Plus the fact my folks are visiting from the UK in January so that will put a further dent in my available painting time... but I will plod along and see what I can get done...
I have a side challenge lined up with fellow challenge compatriot; Ste. We are going to see who can get the most LOTR stuff done, and then have some kind of final duel game at the end using all the models we've painted... should be interesting...
So I've managed to get a reasonable amount of stuff prep'd, and its not just LOTR stuff, there's some FoW stuff too... a mix of old and new... trying to get paint on LOTR stuff that has sat in my stash for several years of collecting and trying to get some newly acquired things done too.
I do also have something that still needs assembling and hope to be able to complete it before the end of the challenge... a small clue... starts with an 'S'... ends in a 'G'... will be interesting to see how Curt scores it! ;-)
And so without further ado, I wish all participants the best of luck, and must now wonder what am I doing here... there's painting to do today... once I get back from movies and seeing Star Wars!
... and summer is just around the corner here, so that means its Curt's Annual Analogue Hobbies Winter Painting Challenge!
I must admit, this year I feel rather pumped for it, and feel I have my painting mojo well and truly back :)
Since the switch back to LOTR as my primary gaming interest, my paintbrushes haven't stopped working. And of course the current Hobbit movies are enthusing my interest in the period even more...
I have had a massive sell off this year, and continue to do so... getting rid of models and rules that I am no longer interested in playing or pursuing any further... these funds have liberated LOTR figures to fill gaps in my collections and further add to my LOTR forces...
Unlike most games where you decide, OK I'll play that game and I'll collect that army for it... LOTR has me well and truly by the short and curlies and that means I want everything for it! And its a fairly pricey product range to boot, thanks to GW pricing, hence the sell off! My favorite UK based suppliers have been helping out with supplies alongside and in addition to a friendly network or 'spies, agents and collaborators'! You know who you are and have my heart felt thanks, with Facebook tradegroups often coming to the rescue for those hard to find discontinued models...
So with good ol' Curt continuing to widen the allowed figures for the painting challenge, I'm raring to go to get a load more LOTR stuff painted, much of which has sat trimmed and undercoated for some years now, from back when I was going to build armies for WOTR, and try out the rules with these prep'd and based figures...
So these have been pulled out of the 'lead pile' and placed alongside more recently trimmed and prep'd figures...
Trimmed , Prep'd and undercoated
So I have, ready to go 24 Corsairs, 24 Morannon Orcs, 24 Dwarf Warriors, 12 Riders of Rohan, 6 Knights of Gondor and 22 Army of the dead inc. Banner and King!
Corsairs, Morannons and Dwarfs
If I get this lot done in the allotted time I'll impress myself! This is probably beyond my abilities in the time available but I'll give it a red hot shot, and see how far I get.
Army of the Dead
Riders of Rohan
Knights of Gondor
So raring to go here and I wish to extend the best of luck to my fellow competitiors!
OK here's my entry fee submission for Curt, for the 4th annual painting challenge...
I'm rarely on time with these thing, but at least I keep my word!
I decided to go with a generic sandy base, to allow Curt to better match him up with the rest of his collection as required.
I tried photographing against a sandy background but camera seemed then have difficulty getting colour balance right - all shots came out too dark. Put him on green grass and all's well.
Oh, if I recall correctly he's a 28mm scale from Artizan... I think?
He'll be winging his way from NZ to Canada over the next few days...
I entered, just to be involved, but knew I was kidding myself that I was going to amass any points...
If it hadn't been for the timing of my few meagre entries with the bonus themed rounds I would have scored bugger all!
I started off well, or at least prepared well, and had a whole load prep'd and primed ready for the go, including stuff for Flames of War, Empire of the Dead and other bits and bobs, including The Hobbit dwarfs which were supposed to be completed for last years event!
But the wheels kinda came off early... I had a pretty naff game of FOW early December last year, which had me questioning myself as to whether I was going to bother to play the game anymore at all...
So when the Challenge kicked off, my enthusiasm to paint FOW stuff, was pretty much rock bottom... but I forced myself onwards, simply out of a sake of completeness...
I managed to complete a set of five Plastic Soldier 15mm Panzer IV F2s... for the Vehicle round.
A Begliet Tank escort platoon got half done, as did a sFH18 Howitzer battery... they are still annoyingly taking up space on my table... staring me down, taunting me; "finish us!"...
I also managed to get a few bits and bobs done for Empire of the Dead, and entries being timed for the themed bonus rounds.., the Villains:
A vampire in humanoid bat form, the sculpt inspired, I presume, from a scene from the Gary Oldman Dracula movie.
And also...
...the hound of the Baskervilles... who's a nice doggy?
And finally...
Alluring, sensual?
... a conversion! My mate Brett bought me the figure, a Hasslefree pole dancer, for a fun birthday present (better than a bottle of wine!) a year ago or so, but I never got round to doing anything with it. Mostly because I had no idea what to do with it! Then I found the Empire of the Dead game, and the idea of converting her into a naked Vampiric Consort was too much to resist, so I cut the base off the pole and added a blade to make an ancient spear, and painted her as pale as I could manage.
Ahem, yes , well... eye popping no doubt!?
I think she makes for a rather alluring character! Perhaps her nakedness is a little OTT for the Victorian setting, but she is meant to be an Anti-Hero after all, and if the old Hammer Horror films were anything to go by, it seemed there was always just about any excuse to get their kit off! ;-) Which of course is why I watched them, as a teenager ;-)
Nice bum too! ;-)
Next up... the Non-Combatants;
'Nanny'
...Mrs Hudson, or as I like how Robert Downey Jr.'s Sherlock Holmes character refers to her as; 'Nanny'.
"Tea Mr Shifter?" - so who remembers the PG Tips Chimps?
But if anyone who has followed my blog recently may have guessed, things took a different tack about half way into the Challenge; the recent Hobbit movies have had my whole family excited to be enjoying Middle-Earth again, and a re-visit to Hobbiton (the now fully developed movie set in Matamata) seemed to crystalise this.
On top this, my young son was motivated to start reading the novel, The Lord of Rings, and in so doing, then wanted to play through the scenarios in order, through the GW LOTR 'Journey books'.
This for me has been almost a complete, yet much looked for, turn around, and has switched my gaming focus, to play games with him. He turned 10 middle of last year, and seems to have hit that 'golden age' where gaming with Dad is cool and his physical and mental faculties now mean, he can reach the gaming table, he can be trusted to handle the models carefully, respectfully without busting them, and is mentally well up on the play (though still learning the tactics of the game, much like me!), including creating his own army lists for other LOTR scenario games he's coming up with...
I have long loved LOTR but had few local opponents and so, have often collected other rule-sets and figures in the hopes of playing games with local adult folks... but in some way I feel I have been chasing my own tail a bit in this respect ...
And thus I feel I have had one of those epiphany-like moments, and jumped up and down in the shower crying Eureka!, whilst being mindful not to slip on the soap...
So having found I have come full circle, in my hobby, I have decided to focus back on my main love; Lord of the Rings, though now called, The Hobbit, SBG. With my son being 10, I figure I have six years ahead of me where we can enjoy gaming together, until either girls become more interesting or exam studies become more important, or both; life gets hectic at 16!
Consequently, I have enjoyed a major clear out of the Lead / Plastic mountain, seeing SYW, ACW , Naps, Ancient Celts, Saxons, and rule-books and supplements, and other bits and bobs sold off through Trademe (NZ's ebay), and thus winging their way off all round the country.
It has been like a breath of fresh air blowing through my games room... and relieved me of pangs of guilt and stress; wondering if I'd ever be able to paint all the figures I have amassed... More to follow as I get really ruthless, and start looking through all those boxes, shelves and cupboards...
With these newly liquidated funds realised, it has allowed me to source and order up on gaps in my LOTR collection, sourcing models via trademe, ebay and facebook groups, that have gone out of production, or likely to do so shortly... Or direct from GW where the items have become mail order only...
I had always hoped to field vast armies of my own to play Black Powder and Hail Caesar, but, whilst I genuinely like those rule-sets, I think the reality of me ever getting such armies painted seems to get more remote, the older I get, as time passes by, and the Lead mountain continues to grow... I hit 44 earlier in the month, and have already noticed a slight yet gradual decline in my insight, which kinda terrified me as to how many good painting years I have left in me...???
This again put me in mind of a wonderful quote from Gandalf; "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."
So Gandalf, how much time do I have left....?
Is this the 'Wargamers Mid Life Crisis' ??? Maybe I need to get out and ride my Harley more instead of worrying about it all!? ;-)
But, not to give up on the BP and HC rule-sets, I am going to use my LOTR troops for mass battles using these rules. I set up the Yahoo Group 'Hail Caesar-Fantasy' (originally named 'Hail Sauron'; far more catchy, but changed in case of copyright issues - I now wonder whether "Fair Use" would have allowed me to leave it Hail Sauron?) originally for this purpose, but have then done little with it. About time I changed that...
I have also decided to stick with the 'Pirates' gaming, as I find that tremendous light-hearted fun, and with Empire of the Dead, as I like the sinister setting of the game. I have all the models I need to play either game system, so its just a matter of getting them painted too, and making some more terrain...
In truth I think my gaming is very much motivated by good movies, I obviously love the LOTR / Hobbit stuff, then there's the on going Pirates of the Caribbean saga, and also the Sherlock Holmes movies and other Gothic Horror/VSF/Steampunk stories to inspire some fun gaming...
So that was my "Eureka!" moment, and where my head is currently at...
Now, back to the painting challenge, and the focus switched to Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit...
Chris and I initially had some fun playing through a couple of the missions in the Fall of the Necromancer supplement, as this was themed very well with the recent The Hobbit, The Desolation of Smaug movie, and I ended up painting up 4 Castellans of Dol Guldur to play some of these missions;
Castellans of Dol Guldur - I love these figures. I have another 4 I could paint, but think 8 might be too much for a regular SBG game? I had bought this many when I was going to use them in WOTR (GWs War of the Ring Battle game), which had minimum company sizes of 8 figures for infantry... but that game has fallen by the wayside...
I also managed to get some work done on the The Hobbit dwarves and got Balin done for the themed Hero Round;
Balin - the brains behind the Company?
Throughout this whole time, I have had various terrain interludes which have already been documented in prior blog posts.
Then it was time to crack on with terrain and models I needed to complete to continue our Fellowship of the Ring campaign...
This got the LOTR Casualty figures done;
Frodo, after being bitten by beastly Shelob!
And Shelob, just for scale! She's truly monstrous!
I was just about to put the following forward for the "Last Stand" bonus themed round , but cocked up the closing date for entries submissions, so missed my chance... Ah well, no worries, at least I have been painting something for my son and I to enjoy gaming together shortly...
Noro Lim Asfaloth!
So finally this weekend, too late for the challenge, I put the finishing touches to the "Last Stand" entry; Flight to the Ford, from the Fellowship of the Ring:
I loved the Ringwraith flying wedge formation scene, chasing down Arwen from the movie, I found it a moving sequence...particularly as Arwen urges Asfaloth on; 'Noro Lim' (Ride on!)
Confrontation at the Ford of Bruinen.
"Give us the Halfling, She-elf"
"Come and claim him, if you want him!"
I have had the mounted Arwen with Frodo figure for quite some time, but it had languished for some time in the lead mountain as its more a scenario or diorama piece than a gaming piece for the most part. Likewise, the mounted wraiths have been in my collection for a long time; an ebay win, but the motivation to paint up all the mounted wraiths was always fairly low priority - how often would you field 9 in a game?
But playing through the FotR scenarios in order, tied in nicely with the theme of the last bonus round for Curts challenge. So that was motivation enough! So ten figures to paint and a Ford Section to make.
I made the Ford section to match my existing river pieces, rather than the rocky film location...
Then right at the last minute I managed to source the discontinued mounted Witchking model, on rearing horse, via Facebook Wargames buy trade sell group, and it winged its way over to me from Australia...
TheWitchKing was the last piece to finish off...
So I ended up with ten mounted wraiths, but that's cool as it makes it possible to pose the two shots; "The chase", and "The last stand".
So that was my challenge for 2013/14...
And a complete, yet very welcome, turn around in gaming and painting motivation!
Last night we also had a rather large, and ongoing, Helms Deep re-fight utilising the wall sections I made, and resin gateway set, on long time loan from mate Mike...
Helms Deep
We played all last night till 11pm, and have had another hour this morning, and hope to finish this afternoon...
So tonight, its the Battle report for Flight to the Ford... report to follow...
Summer is just around the corner for us Southern hemisphere types... and in the miniatures hobby world, that can only mean one thing; Curt's 'Analogue Hobbies' Painting Challenge...
I have taken part in the last couple years events, with varying amounts of output, but its always great to be part of the global challenge, no matter where you are placed at the end. There are some painters out there who can churn out vast quantities of quality figures, that I could only dream of matching in output, so for me its not about the winning, just taking part...
Whilst our northern cousins can take solace in the poor weather and long dark evenings, that are thus perfect for guilt-free indoors hobby painting, the challenge is exactly that for those of us in south enjoying the summer weather. But I guess that is in effect part of our challenge too, finding the time to squeeze in some time when possible at the painting table - almost praying for a wet weekend! ;-)
This year, Curt has widened the subject matter allowable to include sci-fi and fantasy, and that I think is a great thing, which I openly applaud! Nice one Curt - we are really in for a visual feast of varied submissions! And I can't wait to see what starts rolling in... you are going to have your hands full judging this lot my friend. But no doubt you have a few years practice under your belt to know how this is all going to run...
For myself, well I have a few things lined up as potential entry material... as always there will be 15mm Flames of War... also I have yet to start work on my Requiem Empire of the Dead figures... there are still 'tons' of LOTR/Hobbit figure backlogged stashed away to do... and there are some Foundry Saxons that are scheduled for possible SAGA service... So lots of scope for the paint brush...
However, a couple of caveats to my potential output... I still want to make more terrain for my Victorian London board for EotD, and that is time consuming work and beyond the scope of the challenge... on top of which, my father is visiting with us, from the UK, for a month over January/February, which typically will mean family activities together, and evenings chatting and imbibing a dram or three of whiskey... my liver has been in forewarned!
But that all said and done, we will do what we can!
So what my real output will finally be, it's hard to judge, but I have set myself a nominal challenge score of 600 points. Its at least, something to aim for!
Wish me luck.
And of course, best of luck to all the other participants!
