Brett and his son Rhys, coming down for some LOTR fun against me and Chris...
Brett has a collection of mostly good LOTR troops, and wanted a refresher in the rules of the game, especially now with the new rules from the Hobbit book in action... He brought with him some Gondorians lead by Faramir and allied in some Galadhrim with Haldir and Legolas.
We played a 600 points basic 'To The Death' game just to go through the ropes of the game.
I normally like to play only with troops I have painted, but this game I fancied trying a few different things out, that were unpainted or just black undercoated, so I didn't take any pictures of the game.
And I wanted to try out Shagrat as my Evil force leader, who I had but still in blister pack, and decided he would be quick to paint up as he is mostly just dark armour... so out came the brushes...
He led a force of Morannon Orcs assisted by Kardush, and also the Mouth of Sauron leading some Morgul knights...
Shagrat the War leader of Cirith Ungol
Equipped with Shield of Cirith Ungol
The game went well for all of us, with mayhem and brutality on both sides, but with an early finish needed, the game was called a One-All draw, as we both scored points for a having banner.
Main thing was Brett and Rhys enjoyed it and got more acquainted with the rules and subtleties of the new army list creation using warbands.
Shagrat didn't do too bad either killing a couple of Gondorians himself thanks to his shield bash knock down rule, and then holding off a late charge by Faramir and Haldir! For once I didn't have a model die, succumbing to the newly painted model syndrome! ;-)
I'll definitely be using Shagrat again - I now need to paint up some Mordor Uruks for him to lead!
The Morannon Orcs were certainly an improvement, with their tough armour, over the Mordor Orcs, which seem to die like flies to the elven archery... Kardush also had some fun too; Channelling Fury early on, but then all 7 orcs that died near him , all failed their 5+ save, curses! He then made use of his abilities to recharge his Will, at the expense of the life of a nearby orc, life is cruel in the evil ranks! He then targeted the Gondorian Banner bearer with a Fireball but then fluffed the casting the roll on a 2! Still I guess it did demonstrate his potential... The Mouth of Sauron did OK, at one point transfixing Legolas just to keep him from shooting for a turn, and the Morgul knights did OK, though I got too close with my first move and then suffered an elven charge to start, though thankfully their armour saved them and they then started cutting down the Galadhrim infantry...
Brett had anchored the other end of his line well in a ruin and this demonstrated the bonus of holding a defended position. Shagrat did managed to break through the centre of the good battle line, but then was confronted by Faramir and Haldir, though withstood their attentions. And this pretty much ended our game as Brett had to get away...
Very enjoyable fun!
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Also over the weekend I revisited my Wild Warg Chieftain, I gave him another coat of matt varnish then had some fun with UHU glue; adding saliva to his gaping jaws!
A neat trick I learned from The Dead Marsh Spectre - thanks for that! :-)
Now I just need to get him into action in our continuing Fellowship of the Ring campaign... The Hounds of Sauron, is next up, as our Fellowship sets out on the Quest for Mount Doom!
More work on the Watcher also went well over the weekend, which I'll update you with in another blog post soon....
That's a nice job on Shagrat I'm surprised its a quick paint job he doesn't look rushed at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I guess by quick I meant with being mostly one colour overall for the armour there was little time wasted having to use multiple colours and shades :-)
DeleteOh I like the idea of the saliva
ReplyDeleteIan
Its probably more suited to static display pieces as handling will dislodge it... but it looks cool, and with careful handling will hopefully last :-)
Deleteas a long-time user of Shagrat, warleader, I can tell you he rarely disappoints. pack a spear (or a few pikes if you are allying in easterlings) and he cuts a mean path through the enemy lines. It helps if you can keep a captain or something nearby to call heroic moves and make sure you keep the charge. I think he one of the most underrated heroes (with one of the highest benefit:cost ratios) in the game.
ReplyDeleteYes I see that. I was thinking also having an Orc Taskmaster in there too for his abilities... Shagrat's only real flaw is his relatively low Fight Skill compared to Elven heroes etc, so being able to call a Heroic Strike could be useful... especailly if you can then get the Might point back from the Taskmaster !
DeleteNice to see some newly painted LotR figures. Beautifully done too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sir :-)
DeleteGreat looking painting.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Cheers Brendon :-)
DeleteI like the Warg : the saliva is an amazing touch !
ReplyDeleteA black orc is a good idea too !
As cool as PJ's wargs are, I do often wish they looked more like wolves. I really like your paint job on the warg. Nice teeth. Mouths can be difficult. Uhu glue is a great touch.
ReplyDeleteThanks Darcy. The Wargs from LOTR were an odd mix of wolf, hyena and bear, I think? I do like them, but also really like the more evil, brutal looking Gundabad wargs from the Hobbit - but they're a bit more pricey! I'll get some in time, and am busy having an 'old models' sell off to further my LOTR and Hobbit required buying!
DeleteGreat stuff, I'm really enjoying your LotR battles. The UHU saliva looks great, and as I'm sure you're well aware, the same technique can be used for gore with some red and brown added. I need to remind myself what passes for UHU here in the States.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sean! Must admit I had not considered colouring the UHU, I may have to experiment with that! Thanks for the idea.
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