Rohan Reinforcements, Nazgûl and a Blue Angel

Pict 829: Rohan vs. Wraiths

Not to be overcome with Uruk-Hai, I painted some reinforcements for my Rohan army and put them to good use in a doubles tournament this past saturday. I also quickly whipped up a few wraiths from Mordor while I was in the Middle-earth mindset. I also put the finishing touches on Bertrand and Hugo that were almost finished during my last entry. To round out my painting, I then got onto a planetar for my D&D games.

Pict 830: Dernhelm and Merry (mounted)

Pict 831: Dernhelm (mounted)

Pict 832: Éowyn (Death of Gothmog)

I started painting the Rohan heroes of with Dernhelm since I needed her for the tournament. My doubles partner (you can see more of his over at SmallThingsModelling) could have lend me his version but nothing is better to motivate me to paint than a deadline such as a tournament. I then threw in the crawling Éowyn from the 'Death of Gothmog' diorama.

Pict 833: Théodred and Rohan Captain (mounted)

Pict 834: Théodred and Rohan Captain (on foot)

After they finished up rather nicely, I went into my drawer of primed Rohan miniatures and took out Théodred and the Captain. Up until now I never had a reason to paint them but the former got a cool new Legendary Legion in the 'War in Rohan' supplement and I might just use the Captain in an all-hero army. I'm still lacking a painted Gamling with the royal banner however so that model might jump the queue?

Pict 835: Riders of Rohan

Other than Dernhelm, the two riders had to be painted for the doubles tournament. While they are not my best paintjobs, I'm happy with how they look. There are now only four more Riders of Rohan primed and if I painted them, I would have 24 in total. That seems like a reasonable amount (there are quite a few more in my box of shame though...) and it might even be doable in the coming weeks?

Pict 836: The Shadowlord, the Knight of Umbar and Castellans of Dol Guldur

Pict 837: The Shadowlord, the Knight of Umbar and Castellans of Dol Guldur

The other list we were running at the doubles event called for a Castellan of Dol Guldur. I knew I had these two primed and ready to be painted but they were rather far down my queue. However since I had them on my mind from the list building process, I decided to slap some paint on them. Of course they are pretty much only metal and dark cloth so they painted up rather fast. Spurred on by the quick success, I also painted the two named Ringwraiths I sill had lying about: the Shadowlord and the Knight of Umbar.

Pict 838: The Bowmen of Bergerac - Bertrand le Brigand, Hugo le Petit and Gui le Gros

Pict 839: Bertrand le Brigand

Pict 840: Hugo le Petit

Bertrand and Hugo pretty much done with my last post. They had to sit idly on my desk though while I went on my Rohan and Morder painting spree. But after I had varnished everything above, I finished the two of them. Again: the models are really amazing, especially for their age (the first mention in a catalogue was from the 1997 Annual with a copyright from 1996, they had profiles in the 5th edition of WHFB). I suppose, they will only be used in D&D but if I ever get around to play Mordheim or Warhammer Fantasy Skirmish, they would be first in line!

Pict 841: Planetar (WIP)

Speaking of D&D: I have some of the bigger models that are primed and ready to go sitting on my desk at all times. (Amongst them a Beholder, a Carmine Dragon as well as two Balrogs.) They always accuse me of not getting a move on and painting them... Last week I finally gave in to their cries and started to work on this planetar made by Gale Force Nine for the D&D Collector's Series. I have to say that the older models of the product line were a bit better: The detail on the planetar's greaves and braces was slightly washed out and I had to resculpt some of the feathers where a big moldline was running right through them. Nonetheless the model looks quite cool and I look forward to finishing it next week.

Uruk-Hai Scouts and Ballista

In the past two weeks, I once more painted up some Uruk-Hai. I also got to a fun project of some rather old Bretonnia miniatures that were far down the painting queue, but I somehow got the bug to get some paint onto them.

Pict 818: Uruk-Hai Scouts and Ballista

Pict 819: Uruk-Hai Scouts with Bows

Pict 820: Uruk-Hai Scouts with Bows

Continuing the theme of painting Uruk-Hai, I painted up these six Uruk Scouts with bows. I plan on painting even more of the metal scouts as they make for a cheap addition to my Ferals and Berserkers as well as a fun army on their own led by Lurtz or Uglúk and Mauhúr. One of bows was a bit damaged since I sourced these miniatures second hand. But once they rank up for the game the damage is unnoticable.

Pict 821: Uruk-Hai Shaman and Banner

Pict 822: Uruk-Hai Shaman and Banner

And here is the rest of the command groups, I had showed in my last post. The two shamans with their skulls and bones look a bit to much like Warhammer Fantasy miniatures, but they might see some games to make my Uruks fearless. The Warrior with banner looks really cool, but the smaller embossed hands on the banner are a bit crooked. Additionally he is quite prone to fall over so that I plan to get myself one of the other bannerbearers.

Pict 823: Uruk-Hai Siege Ballista

Pict 824: Uruk-Hai Siege Ballista

I really like this model of the Uruk Siege Ballista! The siege engine itself looks quite funcional with the stand that might be adjusted to change the angle of the bolt and the crank being worked by one of the crew. It also painted up rather quickly since as with the rest of the Uruk aesthetic it's quite simple.

Pict 825: Sharkey and Worm

Pict 826: Sharkey and Worm

While I was painting up the Shamans and the Bannerbearer, I also put some paint on this dynamic dou here: Sharkey and Worm. They probably will only ever be played as NPCs in D&D since they represent what becomes of Saruman and Grima after the fall of Isengard. I would have to collect and paint quite a few Ruffians to play them as a Scouring of the Shire army.

Pict 827: Gui le Gros

And lastly here is a model that I painted up only for myself and for my collection. Gui le Gros clearly had a bit much to drink but luckily he's carrying his own barrel of wine with himself. The face is really quite characterfull and I loved painting him!

Pict 828: Bertrand le Brigand, Hugo le Petit (WIP)

The other two miniatures that came with Gui le Gros are Bertrand le Brigand an Hugo le Petit. Bertrand and Hugo are almost done as well but not quite there. Bertrand is clearly modeled on Errol Flynn and Gui on Eugene Pallette from the same film. Sadly Hugo falls out of the scheme, but they make for quite the merry band of men!

A Whole Bunch of Uruk-Hai

I had quite productive weeks since I posted my look back at last year and my resolutions. I focused on getting paint on more Uruk-Hai and played two games with them as well. But I also got to some other odds and ends!

Pict 807: Uruk-Hai Army

Pict 808: Uruk Hai Commanders (Lurtz, Captain, Scout Captain)

Pict 809: Uruk Hai Commanders (Lurtz, Captain, Scout Captain)

First up are the Uruk-Hai heroes I had started in the old year and that were quite quick to finish. I'm pretty happy with the faces and how the eyes turned out, especially with the two versions of Lurtz.

Pict 810: Uruk-Hai Siege Troops

Pict 811: Uruk-Hai Siege Troops

The next thing, I started were some Uruk-Hai siege troops. The models aremade from plastic and came out in January of 2003 (!). Painted up like this and in a group, they still look quite good. You do have to guess at some of the details however and while they painted up rather quickly, I'm not looking forward to painting more Uruk-Hai plastics.

Pict 812: Feral Uruk-Hai

Pict 813: Feral Uruk-Hai

Pict 814: Mauhur's Marauders Command

Pict 815: Mauhur's Marauders Command

I then started to work on the next six Feral Uruk-Hai as well as a Scout Uruk with Banner and an Uruk Drummer. Once they had the base colours and washed applied I got to play two games with my Isengard army as it stands right now. Of course those games went against Rohan armies styled for Helm's Deep! I found myself slaughtered both times since that Rohan / Lothlorien alliance with lots of throwing spears really dishes out shots that I couldn't respond to. I had fun nonetheless and the games got me pumped to expand my Uruk Collection with some bow-wielding Scouts. And of course I found the time to finish the models since that might have been an issue too – I'm sure I'd have had more luck if all my models were highlighted and based as well!

Pict 816: The Ringbearers (invisible)

One fun little project I picked up while gaming are these invisible versions of some Ringbearers. The models are event exclusive by ForgeWorld and my opponent picked them up for me at the end of last year. Of course they were finished quite quickly since there is not much to be done exept for the bases, but they look quite nice and I look forward to using them in games when putting on the One Ring with the corresponding models.

Pict 817: Sekban, Naval Group (WIP)

And since I also want to get ahead with my painting in the Infinity universe, I started to work on the five Sekban. I really like the look of them even if I don't plan on using them in any games soon. Before putting them together, I didn't realise that (excluding the Rocket Launcher) there are only two types of bodies with differing weapons even though I had looked at pictures of them pretty much since I started playing the game!

The Butterfly's Tally 2019 - Haqqislam Army Showcase

This post will be mostly a look at the Haqqislam collection I managed to paint up last year. After that I will take a look back at what else I did for the hobby in 2019, adding in the last few models that managed to get added to the tally during the last two days of the year. And of course I will check back with my resolutions for 2019 and will formulate new ones for 2020.

Pict 796: Haqqislam Army 2019

Pict 797: Haqqislam Light Infantry 2019

Pict 798: Haqqislam Medium Infantry 2019

Pict 799: Haqqislam Heavy Infantry 2019

Pict 800: Haqqislam Skirmishers 2019

Pict 801: Infinity Characters 2019

Pict 802: Infinity Miscallaneous 2019

For this Showcase of the miniatures I painted for Infinity I started with an overview. Always nice to get a whole army out and take a group photo. You can't really make out any details however so I picked out some of my favourites to photograph in groupings according to their troop types.

Pict 803: The Hobby Tally 2019

And with those all added I can happily declare the Tally for 2019: I painted 204 miniatures in total and bought 254 new ones. I still managed to put quite a dent in my to do pile because I sold a bunch of projects that did not excite me any longer as well as some miniatures that didn't see the battlefield in some time (mainly 40k...). Thus my tally will also include 481 models that I sold or gave away to friends.

Pict 804: Dungeons and Dragons / Critical Role Miniatures 2019

I painted quite an array of miniatures for Dungeons and Dragons. Of course there are quite a few of Steam Forged Games' Critical Role Miniatures and Gale Force 9's Collector's Series. But the miniatures by Darksword are all pretty amazing and of course the Unicorn by Reaper was quite an achivement at the end of the year!

Pict 805: Middle-earth Miniatures 2019

And here is a selection of Middle-earth models from last year. I had almost forgotten that I painted Tom Bombadil, Goldberry and the paralysed Hobbits, but the set is really quite nice. Golfimul and Grishnák will have to stand for the Mordor Orcs I painted and Halbarad for the Dúnedain. And of course one more picture from Arda that stands out is the new banner!

Pict 806: Infinity ToDo 2020

Well if I want to measure my success in accomplished resolutions, I have to say that 2019 was not that great. I only managed to fullfill two: I painted 32 D&D miniatures and I go ahead and count the Haqqislam army as a success as well. I did not paint the armies for the Middle-earth SBG I wanted to (Rivendell / Evil Men of the East / Osgiliath Ruins). And I once again bought more models than I painted... Still, I am quite happy with what I did this last year. I'm quite proud of my Infinity Collection and the varitey I painted for Dungeons and Dragons. ME SBG was not really my main system and thus I did not have the impetus to paint the models I thought were next on my to-do pile at the start of the year.

As for resolutions for 2020, I want to finish to paint all of the models I currently own for my Infinity armies (right now that's 40). For the Middle-earth SBG, I want to paint up some more Uruks, say to a playable level of 600 points. For my D&D collection I want to concentrate on the Critical Role miniatures and paint 25 overall. And of course I want to try again to paint more than I buy...

As far as blogging goes, last year I already had the idea to go for one post every two weeks. However I went for a more erratic schedule. Sometimes posting every week while other times missing three weeks in a row. For 2020 I want to stick to a regular schedule of a post every other week in order to not stress me out to much during those streches where there is little time for the hobby.

And with that I wish every reader a happy new year and a good year to do some hobbying!

Uruk-Hai Sledgehammer

I got to painting the Uruk-Hai Berserkers this past week and after having finished them I went right ahead with some Feral Uruk-Hais. I then finished Avicenna and the Hassassin Ragiks I had left over from the week prior to last.

Pict 787: Uruk-Hai Sledgehammer

Pict 788: Uruk-Hai Berserkers

Pict 789: Uruk-Hai Berserkers

These Berserkers have a really iconic look to them. You instantenously know that they are the ones responsible for blowing up the Deeping Wall of Helm's Deep. And you know that they are going to wreak some havoc with those two-handed swords. I'm not quite sure how this menacing look translates to the battlefield, but I'm keen to try! The models painted up rather quickly since they are not much more than some metals and leathers and quite a bit of skin. I'm really happy how the different symbols of the Hand of Saruman turned out. They add to the repeat poses and make them a bit more unique.

Pict 790: Feral Uruk-Hai

Pict 791: Feral Uruk-Hai

After finishing the Berserkers so quickly I got to work on a batch of Feral Uruk-Hai. They are quite similar to the Berserkers but wield two handweapons instead of one big one. Since they are a creation by GW, they feel somewhat out of place in the Lord of the Rings line with their bolted on armour pieces and their piercings. But incidentally the former design choice foreshadows Bolg's and the Keeper's weird armour.
The Ferals and the Berserkers both have two attacks a piece and should destroy anything once close up and since they are the start and core of my Isengard army, I decided to name it the Uruk-Hai Sledgehammer!

Pict 792: Avicenna, Mercenary Doctor

As for Infinity the Game, I finished Avicenna the Mercenary Doctor who is playable in several NA2 armies as well as the Hassassin Bahram. But I think she will only see play once I get more Govads for her to join in a linkteam.

Pict 793: Hassassin Ragiks

Pict 794: Hassassin Ragiks

And here are the four Ragiks I was missing from my collection. They were painted in the usual way and as ever I'm quite happy with the result. They should be pretty much the last few miniatures of 2019 and I'm planing to do a showcase of my army for next week's post to recall what I painted and make plans for the new year!

Pict 795: Uruk-Hai Captain and Lurtz (WIP)

Last but not least, here is the last WIP for 2019 - two Uruk-Hai Captains and two versions of Lurtz. The latter really got a nice boost in this last edition and I look forward to using him!