Back in Cyberspace - and back to Middle-Earth!

Five days seemed a long time to be sans-computer, but thankfully I am now back; 'hard-wired' once again :-).
Having a very tech-savvy neighbor come and help out at short notice, who didn't 'know me from Adam', saved my bacon, and lets just say, I owe him a few beers for a job well done... Big thanks to Ben :-)

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Back to Middle-Earth and a catch up seems in order...

Last weekend saw my son Chris and I, take a road trip down to Wellington for some LOTR action as part of the Great Wellington Hobbit League.

This was my first game in the 'League' which is being run a simple mapped campaign setting. I took my Angmar force along led by Buhrdur, and played Matt who had brought a Gondor force led by Boromir on horseback and Faramir on foot.

I won't go into a full battle report, but here's a few pictures of the game with a little commentary...

The force deploy for a 'To the Death' engagement...

The two forces approach each other...

After a few turns and carnage is evident... the trolls in the centre have battered and pummeled the Gondor line, and Buhrdur pulled Faramir apart! The cavalry charge led by Boromir was not as effective as Matt hoped for. Boromir was able to take down the troll on that flank , but the rest of the orcs there contained the horsemen and steadily reduced their numbers... hacking brave men from their mounts...

Near the end, and Boromir finds himself completely surrounded, his Horn of Gondor has no effect due to the Barrow Wight easily passing courage, but with no might remaining he manages to roll high enough to survive despite only rolling 3 dice against 9!

Boromir surrounded!

Final positions, and its a rough day for Gondor, their force battered and reduced to 8 models at the end...

We didn't tot up VP's at the time, not that they were important at the the time for the campaign, but I think the game would have been scored 7-0 in Angmar's favour....

Matt was a very pleasant chap to play against, and I look forward to my next encounter with him.

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On the adjacent table, my son Chris played Eli. Chris was using another Gondor force with infantry led by Boromir on foot and an allied mounted Rohan contingent lead by Theodred. Eli was using a late Second -Age /Early Third-Age force based on the prologue to The Fellowship movie; using Gil-Galad, Isildur and Elrond, with a handful of supporting elves and Numenoreans.

Eli thus found himself somewhat outnumbered, choosing to field several high powered heroes....

They made a good account of themselves but were finally taken down by Boromir and the remnants of his alliance. Both sides had been broken and were surviving on courage tests each turn towards the end... a nerve biting finale... and the whoops of joy from Chris as Gil-Galad finally fell, surrounded, were fun to behold!

The Bowman's thus headed back north with 2 victories under their belts and smiles on their faces :-)
Thanks to our opponents for some very enjoyable gaming, to Michail at Warlords for hosting us and Andrew for organising :-)

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Back to the painting front and over the last couple of weeks I have been building up my basic orc forces including core troops and captains... Here's a 'warband' I finished recently with bows backed by spears...

It wasn't designed this way, I was just wanting to get a load more spears done as they are very useful troops now that they can support just about ANY model in the game. I also wanted to get some more archers done so I could field a full warband of orc archers, led by an orc 'hero' with a bow... Now I know orcs can't hit a barn door at point blank range , but a whole warband together might hit something! Perhaps might be able to take the sting out of a cavalry charge if can take out a few horses?

Metal orc archer models... now discontinued... the central orc will make a distinctive hero to lead them...

And some spears... the ones on the left I like to call my 'Hawaii-5-0' mob as they always remind me of the guys paddling the canoes at the beginning credits of that TV show ! ;-) Its an odd pose - they're either trying to take you out at the ankles, or perhaps skewer a prone warrior? The two on the right are again old metal models, again discontinued...

And a pair of Orc Captains to lead my orc forces. Metal figures again, which I believe are once again discontinued. I managed to pick these up from a facebook trade recently... great models - very 'orcy'...

Orc Captains

... and their backs too showing embossed Eye of Sauron on their shields...

And finally there's that now completed orc archer warband...

Orc Archers

I also found time to paint up some of the little pre-made terrain pieces... they may do to embellish the battlefield or act as objective markers...

Angmar- Realm of the WitchKing

Angmar - ancient realm of the Witch-King of old.

At the time of the weakened state of Arnor, after it had sent it's troops south to the Battle of the Last Alliance, the Witch-King came to Angmar to raise an army to bring death and destruction to Arnor.

For some time, Arnor, bereft of true kingship, dissolved into three smaller kingdoms; Arthedain, Cardolan and Rhudaur. These three fought each other, for the right to claim the throne. Ever do the forces of evil, grin to see friend fight friend, and in their further weakened state, Angmar struck, destroying each kingdom in turn and laying waste to the northern realm of Arnor.

Drawing on orcs, barbarians, trolls and all manner of evil creatures and spirits, the WitchKing forged his forces to wreak havoc on the world of men.

The backbone of any evil forces are the multitudinous orcs, lead by brutal captains and taskmasters, and following their banners to war to the beat of the drum.


Banners still bearing the red eye of Sauron.

Shamen also come forth in the orc battalions, to bolster their courage and lay waste to their enemies.

All manner of fell creatures come to the call of the WitchKing; including monstrous bats, giant spiders, and evil wild wargs...



Other fell demons come forth to join the fray. Ghulavar the Terror of Arnor, is one such dread demon, with a lust for blood, and fangs and claws to rend and tear flesh from the living. A nightmare of another world.

Monstrous trolls will also head the call of the Witch-King bringing brute strength to the fight.


Fell spirits also obey the summons, chilling the soul, and paralyzing with fear, the brave souls man enough to oppose the forces of Angmar.



Here a evil Shade, a twisting swirl of ghostly forms, lends its terror to Angmar.

And Wights; spirits that have inhabited to kingly bodies of men in the tombs under their barrows, come forth to chill the soul.

I have more I wish to add to this force, including spectres and ghostly legion, which I hope to complete for a subsequent blog post update.

Build me an army worthy of Mordor...

"Build me an army worthy of Mordor!" commanded Sauron, and the traitor Saruman does just this. Working from a stock of goblins and orcs he breeds a larger, fiercer orc warrior, able to tolerate daylight and travel great distances at need, and still fight. Thus Uruk-Hai of Isengard have come to Middle-Earth, to destroy the race of men.

Saruman the White, also known as Curunir to the elves. Once the greatest of the Istari; Maiar sent down by the Valar in the guise of old men, as wizards, to help the fair races of Middle-Earth in their ongoing battle with Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor. Saruman, over many years, centuries indeed, comes to feel the battle against Sauron, cannot be won, and thus over time, and also through using the Palantir of Orthanc, he is seduced into joining forces with Sauron.


Saruman and Grima Wormtongue inspect their troops, with encouragment from an Uruk-Hai shaman.


The Fighting Uruk-Hai, clad in heavy harness of war and wielding long pikes. Although Tolkien never specifically mentions pikes in his descriptions of the Uruk-Hai, Peter Jackson and and his team, came up with the idea, as it seemed logical based on their immediate foes; The Rohirrim, a mainly mounted force of cavalry. History tells us that the horse was countered with the pike, and thus pikes would be the ideal weapons to defeat Rohan in open battle.



However, the forces of Rohan retreat from this threat to the fortress of Helms Deep. Here normal soldiery wielding swords and shields, will contribute ably to the fight. PJ's designers also hypothesized that a long pike might also be useful in such a siege, being able to "hook" the defenders from the walls, and allow a ladder assault to be easier for the Uruks. I know of no historical precedent for this, but it makes for great theatre...



Regular orcs of Isengard also pour forth from the pits below Orthanc, and swell the ranks. Here led by a captain, drummer, taskmaster with whip and banner bearing the White-Hand of Saruman.
To help scale the walls of Helms Deep, an Uruk-Hai siege assault ballista, hurls its huge missiles to erect tall scaling ladders against the Hornburg. Again more ideas from PJ, but it makes for great drama during the siege.


Warg riders, lend speed and mobility to the attack of Isengard, acting as forward scouts, and engaging the flanks of the enemy during the crossing of the Isen, and hastening the demise of the Westfold and retreat from the River Isen.

Wild Isengard berserkers lead the assault up the scaling ladders, to bring death and destruction with their huge and fearsome two-handed swords. Driven to a berserk rage, their helmets are first filled with the blood of their enemies before the helm is placed on their heads, dripping blood down their bodies and filling their nostrils with the scent of their enemies. Truly fearsome warriors.

A great troll of Isengard. This is again not in the explicit canon of Tolkien, nor is it one of PJ's inventions. It appears, from what I can tell, to have been driven by the desires of the gaming fraternity, who wanted a troll to add to Isengards forces. I believe Tolkien always wanted others to develop further his world of Middle-Earth and the creatures therein, and stories there-from. As such, I feel it is within the bounds of possibility, that Saruman could have bent the will of trolls, simple creatures at best, to his command. The voice of Saruman was all powerful...

I still have many more units to add to this force, including Uruk-Hai scouts, crossbowmen, and Dunlendings.

I will hope to update this blog post in due course.