Erebor Dwarves, Moria Goblins, Laser Rapiers

After a lot of time spent with Heresy miniatures, the next few events I plan to go to will take place in Middle-earth once again. To that end, I painted up some more Erebor Dwarf warriors and a Captain to round out that part of my collection. I also started another army that should play the part of the dwarves' enemies in the form of a whole bunch of Moria Goblins including a big Dragon! I did also finish the two Laser Rapier Destroyers for my Heresy Blood Angels.

Pict 1624: Erebor Dwarves issuing from their mountain holds

Pict 1625: Erebor Dwarf Warriors and Erebor Captain

I played a game with these guys lead by Thrór and Thráin at the start of July and started to paint the twelve Erebor Warriors and the Captain pretty much immediately after. I painted them in the same colours that I used a few years back, when I played an alliance themed after the Battle of Azanulbizar using both Erebor and Iron Hills dwarves. With the red coats and the snow bases, they do look a bit like a collection of Santas. But I'm quite happy with them as a quick little project to finish up my Erebor Dwarves.

Pict 1626: Moria Goblins (WIP)

I built a whole lot of metal Moria Goblins to get this army started. The first two test models are pretty simple with the base colours slapped on and an oil wash applied. I really like the effect so far. I don't think they need much more highlighting. I would like to give them big cave dweller eyes, but they could also work just with the oil wash leaning more towards the grim dark painting style.

Pict 1627: Magma Dragon (WIP)

The Dragon I will want to play with my Moria Goblins is this huge Magma Dragon that ForgeWorld produced for Warhammer Fantasy a while back. I just about managed to get him on the required 130mm base with some parts overhanging. I got the Dragon second hand and spent some time rebuilding it and filling in the gaps with putty. I then put on a light coat of white primer. I'm not quite sure about the colour scheme I'm going for quite yet. But the miniature itself looks like a great canvas with lots of nice texture to play around!

Pict 1628: Beechbone (WIP)

The next project in Middle-earth, however, will be the new Beechbone to add to my my Fangorn army. I might take the Ents to an upcoming tournament. That might just be the motivation to get him done in a timely manner.

Pict 1629: Blood Angels Rapier Laser Destroyers

Pict 1630: Blood Angels Rapier Laser Destroyers

Lastly, with the new edition of Heresy, of course I'm also thinking about the 31st millenium. I finished these Rapiers – while I started them in the previous edition, they do look like a good way to deal with AV 14 vehicles in 3.0. I also picked up a third set second hand to complete the unit. It still has to be stripped of its current colours and I plan to convert the two crew members a bit. However, before that I want to try and get at least one game in with the new rules!

Picking up a few things throughout Middle-earth

I used the past two weeks to pick up a few projects and finishing others with a focus on Middle-earth. I managed to paint Eorl and a few Warriors for my Rohan army, the Moria Goblins of a few weeks back as well as some more heroes. I also painted two more models for D&D and started on a few more.

Pict 859: Rohan vs. Moria

Pict 860: Grôblog and Armoured Moria Goblins

Pict 861: Grôblog and Armoured Moria Goblins

First up are the armoured Moria Goblins. I really like the models - the mail coifs are an element that didn't extend towards the plastic goblins and makes these stand out.
With Grôblog, the guy with the tactical dwarven ruin, I particularly enjoyed painting the flowing cloak. But as is tradition with finecast, before priming I had to carve out the detail on the pillar because it was to washed out. I was very pleased however how the whole batch turned out and what was at first meant to be a small group to be played as hobgoblins in D&D might now get turned into an army? I already stripped the paint of about 70 plastic goblins, so that might be a reality...

Pict 862: Eorl, Warriors of Rohan with Horn and Banner

Pict 863: Eorl, Warriors of Rohan with Horn and Banner

After having painted Eorl on foot, of course I had to paint him on horseback as well. Intrestingly GW painted their version with a brown horse while Felaróf is clearly described as white. So that's what I went with. I also painted two more warriors - a bannerbearer and a hornblower. The banner will surely see play while the horn is a bit on the expensive site pointswise.

Pict 864: Gildor Inglorion, Gandalf the White, Aragorn

Pict 865: Gildor Inglorion, Gandalf the White, Aragorn

I then pulled out some more Middle-earth heroes from various armies and simply painted what took my fancy. The three poses of Aragorn were painted at the same time and now put me at nine painted Aragorns - only five more left to go and I painted all of the official poses that GW put out!
Of Gandalf I also showed a WIP. I'm not perfectly happy with the eyes, they are sculpted to be rather small on the model and now he looks a bit surprised. But after several tries, that what I ended up with. Gildor Inglrion was painted with the scenarios of the Fellowship Journeybook in mind. The colourscheme combines elements of my Highelf and Woodelf miniatures, since he's able to include the latter in his warband.

Pict 866: Dragonborn Rogue, Halfling Ranger

Pict 867: Dragonborn Rogue, Halfling Ranger

And to make a few steps outside the Legendarium, I finished up this Dragonborn Rogue and afterwards painted this Halfling Ranger. Once again, the miniatures are made by Darksword and a joy to paint!

Pict 868: Morgul Stalker (WIP)

And lastly here is a WIP of some Morgul Stalkers that I just started. The miniatures are a bit comical but I like the design choice to have spiky hoods and gauntlets. The faces with the big teeth just scream for a skull-motive face paint. I'll see what I can do!

D&D Hill Giant, Planetar and more Uruk Scouts

These past two weeks I painted more Uruk Scouts and then went onto paint some Moria Goblins. I struck some motivation issues with batch painting them however and thus distracted myself by painting some monsters for D&D.

Pict 842: Hill Giant Smash!

Pict 843: Hill Giant

Pict 844: Hill Giant

Pict 845: Hill Giant

Pict 846: Hill Giant

Pict 847: Hill Giant

Man, this was just the best distraction. It didn't really take to long since it's pretty much just fur, some leather bits and a whole lot of skin. I'm really in love with the miniature - the face is amazing, the different textures are a joy to paint. The pose is a bit exaggerated but I like it. As with the unicorn I painted at the tailend of last year, I went for minimal use of washes. Instead I drybrushed the boulder, the hair and the fur and layered the skin with translucent paint.

Pict 848: Uruk-Hai Scouts, Uglúk, Captain

The Uruks this time around are mainly Scouts - seven with shield, three with bow and the two carrying Merry respectively Pippin. I also painted Uglúk holding an orc head and his twin brother, an unnamed Captain. Lastly there is a single warrior with a crossbow. I'll have to get some more of those to play the Assault on Helm's Deep Legendary Legion, but for now, I'm staying on track with the scouts.

Pict 849: Planetar

After painting the Uruks, I finished up the Planetar, I showed last week. As I said, the pose is quite cool but I'm not that happy with the detail on the wings. I tried drybrushing and it looks all right, but compared to the Hill Giant there is a remarkable difference in quality.

Pict 850: Grôblog and Moria Goblins (WIP)

These Moria Goblins again are very nice miniatures and hold up despite being from the first batch of Lord of the Rings miniatures from 2001. Grôblog, the goblin chieftain on the pillar with the cloak is from some later time and only was released in Finecast. It took me quite some time to go through the basecolours but I finnaly managed to get to the wash stage. I hope to finish them next, but since I let myself be distraced by D&D miniatures, I might do some more of them...

Pict 851: Watcher in the Water's Tentacles

While I was on a stroll in Moria, I fished out these tentacles, I had started a long time ago. They were released by GW to play a scenario with the Fellowship of the Ring against the Watcher in the Water on the western door to Moria. Now that they are painted, I'll have to play that scenario sometime!

Pict 852: Dragonborn Rogue (WIP)

And lastly here is a WIP of the next D&D hero. As always, I very much enjoy Darksword's miniatures and this Dragonborn Rogue is no exception. Right now I don't have any plans to play this miniature but as with the Hill Giant I simply wanted to paint a cool miniature to distract myself from batchpainting...