Happy Birthday to me!

Well, good news and bad news. Good news is all for me, had a great birthday, the boy was off to his Nanna's and my wife took the day off work. To cut a long story short, no game played and my parents are away for a fortnight holiday, so no game for another few weeks I'm afraid.


On the plus side my wife got me an army carrier case (she's been concerned about my minis getting scratched in their cardboard boxes) and the other two Gamezone eagle poses! So I'll have some hobby work to do if I get the time for it and will keep you informed =)


Any ideas on the best foam to use for larger models like wargs, giant spiders, cave trolls, terminators and the like?


Oh and I just noticed I went past 100 posts! Most of them are WIP and Battle Reports, so if you need something to do over the next few weeks, why not look back at some of the old reports!

Oh, and my current shaman work...

It's a shielded goblin, with a greenstuff cloak covering the shield and around his head. He has a companion giant rat (I'd like all my shamans to have something with them!). I've yet to do the staff, which will replace the sword, and to mount him up on a higher rock or something like I do with my heroes.

Once the greenstuff hardens I'll score the edges to make the cloak a little more ragged.

What do you get when you have an hour spare?

I got a nice eBay cheap pack of 52 goblins. Lots of the spears broke in the postage and some of them are so heavily undercoated that there's no detail left, but it was still a super bargain! (Insist on good quality pictures and descriptions!)


For my birthday I wanted to play a game of SBG and since we've had lots of dwarves lately I figured it was only fair to play goblins. And when I say goblins, I wanted to field only goblins.


Problem: My brother now has 820 points under the new warband system. I only had Durburz, three captains and Druzhag.


Solution: convert a couple of the new goblins into captains!


So meet my two new captains! Just a bit of greenstuff on the skin to turn it into chainmail, a spiffy "rock" to stand on and some bronze shoulderpads... took about an hour all up (simple paintjob, just basecoat, wash, highlight).

I'll take a proper photo tomorrow during our game, but they're nicely distinguishable from the other goblins, though obviously not as good as my other metal captains.


I have 28 painted of each type of goblin, plus a set of drums, three captains with shields, two captains with bows, Druzhag, Durburz and one metal mini with spear (who I'll use as Durburz's bodyguard - though rule him the same as a normal mini although I guess I could turn him into a Blackshield... hmm...)


Anyway, that leads me to the goblin horde...

Sorry for the dodgy pic, better tomorrow I promise.
Seven warbands, 90 goblins =)


Durburz, Drums, five spears, four shields.
Shar'lok (Shaman), six spears, six shields.
Jornik, Lurnik and Varnik the triplets (Captains with shield), six spears, six shields each.
Kar'cha and Nar'po (Captains with bow), twelve archers each.


(Druzhag will be just a normal shaman for tomorrow, which gives me 810 points worth of green goblin goodness.)


I'll probably be having too much fun to blog it tomorrow, but I'll at least try to remember to post a pic.


Wish me luck! (Lots of it!)


P.S. I already know that I should have a cave troll (or two), some wargs, bats or spiders for movement, maybe some more magic... I WANNA PLAY WITH JUST GOBLINS!!! So that's what I'm gonna do =)

Doin' the Eagle Rock! Battle Report - Domination

Well, I'm happy to say that Barukshathur made it into battle in today's Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game Battle Report - Domination between the Haradrim and Dwarves.


LotR SBG is sometimes about skill, tactics, strategy, a bit of luck and lots of dice. Other times it's all about the models, scenery and fun story that plays out in front of your eyes! I know different people like different elements of the game. My brother and I tend to the latter, we're in it for a fun bit of entertainment. And if that entertainment is a newly painted Great Eagle chomping on banner bearers, well, who can deny us that =)


My camera was running very low on batteries, so I didn't take as many shots, but still got plenty that turned out well enough to put up here, so enough blather, on with the show...


Here's my army, same heroes as previously played, but smaller warbands to accomodate the Great Eagle, Barukshathur (Axes of the Clouds in Dwarven if you've not been keeping up). On the right of screen are Etako's four Khazad Guard, four Iron Guard and Banner Bearer. (Etako is basically Balin for those of you who are new, but with an Ironfist and one eye.)


In the center are Boggle's band of eight archers (Boggle is a dwarven captain with shield).


On the left are Brynmor's warband, three vault warden teams, a banner bearer and two Khazad Guard. 


To the rear for dramaticness is Barukshathur the Great Eagle (using Gwaihir's stats).

My brother has his usual troops, though with an additional spearman to balance my slight overspend (704 points).

And the board...
Domination is about key locations on the battleground. The four locations here are the small tower back right, the well, back left, the tomb, front left and the weapons cache and treasure (blocked from sight here by the ruins in the front right). After a team breaks the game can end and whoever has the most locations secured (more models) wins.

In Turn 2 we pretty much all ran forward. My archers climbed the tower and posed near Barukshathur for dramatic effect... (gratuitous eagle photo)

Here's the board after a few turns...

The Haradrim raiders, led by Suladan himself, race forward to the well. The Hasharin appears back-lit against the lava if you look carefully...

The mission continues, one dwarf archer falls to the volley firing of the Haradrim archers. They hit soooo many times this game, but only got about three kills. Meanwhile they completely secured their objective. None of my guys wanted to charge at 13 poisoned bows.

The first melee of the match was a surprise fly-over by the Great Eagle, who swooped over the intervening terrain (wow, flying is really fun) to attack the banner bearer at the rear of the spear group led by the Hasharin. The banner was immediately picked back up, but it was still cool =)


The poor Hasharin, at the front of the spearmen, was shot at by the dwarven archers. They hit him and would have wounded him if not for his massive supply of fate. He used it all up, but no blood was spilt and he raced on, cursing his lack of cover.

The Betrayer poses menacingly on the hill... (less menacing with the window and curtains behind him, but pretend it's not there!

Here we are at the end of Turn 4...

Turn 5, The Betrayer Black Darts the Banner Bearer, the banner is picked up by a nearby Khazad Guard, who curses the loss of his massive axe, but knows the value of the ancient banner. Believe it or not, it was only in this game that we realised the wounding table is not symmetric. We've been playing that strength 9 hits (like the Black Dart) wound on a 1 for lower armoured troops. Little did we realise that the wounding chart never goes below a 3! Duh! How did we miss that?!?!?! Makes me wonder what else we're doing wrong! Oh well =)

Barukshathur uses his only point of might to Heroic Move and charge into some raiders, saving the dwarven footsoldiers from being overwhelmed. Fortunately he rolls a six and with such high fight value is ensured a victory, slaying the raider banner bearer and his companion with a flashing, razor sharp beak and strong, pincer like claws. I'm really loving the super-speedy eagle, disappointingly low might, will and fate for so many points, but still awesomely cool!

The Iron Guard near the treasure cache spread out as a rear-guard for Etako and hurl their throwing axes at the approaching men, killing two!

While the eagle had a munch on two raiders, Suladan and Brynmor each called a heroic move of their own. Suladan won the roll off and he and his raiders charged bravely (?) into the Vault Wardens. Suladan targetted the flank Khazad Guard and rode him down, slaying the dwarf in seconds. The super tough shielded dwarves are unmoved by the charging horses and the long spears thrust forward, killing two raiders.

Here's the board in Turn 6, which was also full of action...

The Betrayer uses a might to call a heroic move... hisses sibilantly evil words and compels Etako, he uses four will and gets a six... Etako uses his three will, but can only manage a four and so is compelled out of line towards a waiting group of Watchers of Karna. The other watchers and The Betrayer himself attack the other dwarves in such a way as to leave Etako surrounded by four evil men!


Barely able to lift a finger, Etako is overwhelmed by blades. Fortunately his awesomely crafted dwarven mithril mail deflects all but one blade and he survives the dastardly attack with only one wound! The other watchers and the Betrayer all survive their assaults on the Khazad Guard, who fight well but cannot land blows past the whirling dervish swords.

Suladan's Heroic Move allows him to charge around and kill another Khazad Guard, while Brynmor thwacks a raider with a quick, but forceful, shovel to the head. In the background, the Great Eagle swoops down, plucks the third raider from the last combat up in his mighty claws, carries him far above the battlefield, then drops him into a nearby lava pool to die quickly, but screaming horribly. Serves him right for being an evil pawn in Sauron's dark game.

In Turn 7 Etako calls a Heroic Move to quickly force combat against The Betrayer and try to gain some momentum back on the assault of the weapons and treasure cache. One dwarf dies to the flashing blades of a Watcher of Karna, The Betrayer is unwounded, but loses another point of will for having fought.

Fist of Iron in a massive uppercut, axe sweeping in a blur shortly thereafter, two dead Watchers of Karna fall to Etako One-eye (after using all his remaining might!). Another falls to an intercepting Iron Guard, dual axes beating dual blades.

At the end of the turn you can see the Haradrim spearmen all entering the tower underneath the archer dwarves - they outnumber the dwarves, so technically dominate the objective! To the top of the shot you can see Suladan fighting with Brynmor, no wounds from that evenly matched fight. The dwarven archers shoot at the Hasharin again, and wound him! The Haradrim archers volley fire (again) and kill an Iron Guard in the center of map thanks to a lucky poisoned arrow re-roll!

Turn 8: A Watcher of Karna takes on the dwarven banner bearer and another Khazad Guard and wins the fight! Two blades flicker out from dark sleeves and both dwarves fall dead!

The Betrayer uses his penultimate will points to try and compel Etako, but the spell fails. The iron-willed dwarf uses his Ironfist Gauntlet to battle the evil ringwraith. After winning a tie of 6s, the dwarf fails to wound the black Nazgul, but evil laughter hisses around the battlefield as the wraith disappears, fading before their eyes. His evil plans have been fulfilled, though the battle is not yet won... who knows what he was really after?

The dwarven archers at the top of the ruins fire down on the encroaching men and kill one, who falls screaming to the ground, an arrow through his eye! The other archers take aim and kill the Haradrim banner bearer, who was to lend aid to the Hasharin - who has leapt to attack Barukshathur!

The Hasharin needs no help from a banner, he takes on the Great Eagle and a Vault Warden team and wins! Flashing blades land on nothing but thin air as Barukshathur flies around. Fortunately for the evil man, he gets a reroll if he fails to wound! Leaping to the air, the Hasharin's blades flash again and he carves a gash in the Great Eagle as well as plucking a large tail feather as a trophy!


In the background, Suladan wins his fight, but directs his attacks against the massive Vault Warden shield and fails to penetrate it. 

At the treasure pile, the dwarves begin mopping up, killing the second last Watcher and moving in towards the last remaining man.

In the second round of combat with the Hasharin, an enraged Barukshathur swoops down and disembowels the evil assassin while a Vault Warden team keeps him busy. Boggle slams a spearman with his shield, allowing another Vault Warden team to stab in with a spear to his guts.

In one of our favorite moments of the game, an Iron Guard dwarf charges at the tower, his throwing axe whips forward and kills the guard in the doorway! He leaps in, axes flashing, only to be killed by the spearmen still inside!

Suladan charges Brynmo and a Vault Warden team, they are evenly matched, but Suladan wins the tie-breaker, knocking the dwarves to the ground and this time directing his attacks against Brynmor. He scores two wounds, but fate is with the dwarf and no blood spills, though his barrel of beer is split - he's going to be angry now!

Here's the final turn. As you can see, the dwarves pretty much hold three of the objectives, though fighting at the tower could go either way and Suladan is still doing a good job at his objective, while a Watcher of Karna refuses to die to Etako. The Haradrim archers have hit 14 times in three turns, but have only managed to kill one Iron Guard! Arrows are lying all over the place and sticking out of armoured plates, but very few have blood on them!

The Great Eagle swoops in towards the tower and plucks out a spearman guarding an entrance, slashing his jugular with a mighty beak. The haradrim spearmen have managed to gain a foothold at the top of the tower after killing one of the dwarven bowmen. 

On the far side of the tower another Iron Guard manages to slay the defender and enter the tower.

Brynmor wins the fight, but can only stand up after having been charged, the Vault Warden team manages to slip past Suladan's defensive guard and wound the King.

At that stage, with the Haradrim army broken, my brother capitulates and the dwarves achieve a minor victory - but victory none the less!


Here are the victors!

And the survivors of the Haradrim force, who will surely live to fight another day...


The 13 archers kept volley firing throughout the whole game, but only managed to kill three dwarves. I didn't relish the idea of charging towards them, as their fire gets way more accurate when in direct fire range! I toyed with sending the eagle over, but I don't think he'd win against that many guys!

Well, that's yet ANOTHER brilliantly fun game we had. There were so many heroic moves called, evil spells cast, amusing wins against the odds and I got to use my new toy to great effect =)


So much fun, thanks heaps again to my brother! By the way, if you haven't already checked out his blog it's here: http://paulslotrminis.blogspot.com.au/


He doesn't usually take photos with his camera, but posts some if he does as well as his other hobby stuff. Check it out!


Thanks for watching and reading, hope you enjoyed it even a fraction as much as we did! 


Stay tuned for our next match, hopefully it will be road testing the new rules properly, though we may have to wait for some more Haradrim reinforcements.

LotR SBG Great Eagle Base

All my base is belong to me =)


Thanks to The Last Alliance http://www.thelastalliance.com/blog.php/ and Typhoon2 there, I found out that the Great Eagle uses a base even bigger than the cavalry base - woohoo! 


This was good news because a bigger base means more stability. It was bad news in terms of meaning the Eagle wasn't finished yet!


Anyway, short post to show what I did...


Basically I glued the old base onto a new bigger base.


Ages ago I got four sprues of LotR terrain. I painted most of them up (you often see the statues in our battle reports) but had saved one of each type just in case I wanted them for something else. So I got the "fallen down broken" statue and chopped it up into it's separate bits. You can see some of what was cut away in the picture below. I greenstuffed the big gaps, pressed some small stones into the greenstuff to texture it. A bit of cork was added between one break and a smaller rock between another (as though the statue fell and broke against these rocks). Then I dipped it in my sandy mix with some glue.

Here it is painted grey. My usual base/rock paintjob. ie. paint it all black, then heavy drybrush of Codex Grey, then a lighter drybrush (or two) of Fortress Grey, then a tiny tiny highlight of Skull White.

And here it is after a Badab Black wash, really heavy wash to tie the colours into the board I play on.

I then did another tiny bit of highlighting on the statue to further define some of the edges and then it was done! The whole job was done in two half hour blocks, one to do the cutting, gluing and greenstuffing, one to do the painting.

And here it is from above, you can see that I've put the Eagle and original base right on the very edge to maximise the stability, keeping the center of mass as close to the center of the base as I could.

So thanks for the comments and here's hoping we get a game in tomorrow =)

LotR SBG Great Eagle

Well, ages ago I said I'd like to get something with some "height" for my dwarven army. I got a good ebay metal great eagle last year (actually, it may have been the year before).


It was a complete expletive to put together, and so it sat on my desk until now. Over the last few months I've done a bit of work here and a bit there to get it put together. Even when it was finally assembled it would break so easily due to the pose and the heaviness of the metal. Still, here's hoping it's together for good now, I still handle it very gingerly!


Here it is, based and sprayed black. The base has extra greenstuff on the far side to raise it on the back and help counterbalance the miniature. The base itself has lots of metal scraps and bits to try and weight it. As you can see, the pose is very high and dramatic, but you can imagine the pain in getting it together when it's all attached from one point down the bottom!

To paint it I first did a google search for "eagle" then "australian eagle" to get an idea of colours etc. I decided to go for a fairly plain brown banded look, with a little red colouring as well. Here he is with the solid colours blocked in. I took this photo after three layers of paint. In hindsight, the base coat of black was silly given the lightness of the browns (apart from Scorched Brown). 


The darkest is Scorched Brown, then Bestial Brown, Vermin Brown and Snakebite Leather, with Bleached Bone on the wingtips. 

As you all know by now, I try to get the best I can without having to mix paints, straight from the bottle. I do water my paints down, and on this model it was especially important because I still wanted to see the feather details. Of course, Vermin Brown is quite red and Snakebite Leather quite yellow, so I wasn't very happy. My original plan was to just highlight each layer with the layer below it, but I didn't think that would work now, given the red and yellow tones.

Here we are after a couple of highlights. I've highlighted the Scorched Brown with bits of the other browns. The Bestial Brown is highlighted with the Snakebite Leather. The Vermin Brown is highlighted with some Red Gore and a tiny bit of actual Red. The Snakebite Leather is highlighted with Bleached Bone and the Bleached Bone is highlighted with White.

I should also mention the Desert Yellow for the beak and feet.

It was still looking nowhere near what I wanted at this stage and I should know by now not to judge until after the washing is done, but I still panic at this stage. So next I gave it a really good wash with Devlan Mud, pretty much all over. Oh, and before I did that I picked out some random feathers in lighter colours, hard to see in the photo.


After that broad wash I went back with a small (10) brush and just washed the ridges between feathers to help delineate each feather. I also gave the beak a little drybrushing and washing to give it some extra look. On lots of the eagle pictures the beak went from yellow to white to black near the tip, so I tried to duplicate that. I also washed black under the eye and highlighted around the eye and the feathertips.

None of these pictures quite capture the colouring, I'm afraid, I think because it's relatively subtle compared to my usual turquoise and purple! I'm pretty happy with it, though, it's certainly not a brilliant job, but at the moment I think I was pretty good to get ANY painting done =)

Oh, and you know I'm a nut for story, so just how does a great eagle come into the company of dwarves?


As you know, Etako Ironfist and his clan live in the southern barren reaches of Harad. Some of their battles take them closer to the southern borders of Mordor and that is where they first met Barukshathur. The great eagle had been following The Betrayer when Etako met the evil Nazgul in battle. The eagle dove in to the fray, saving Etako from a Hasharin blade. Etako returned the save moments later by hurling himself bodily at The Betrayer just as he was hissing out a Black Dart to bring down the majestic eagle.


Since then they have been fast friends, Barukshathur often brings Etako news of where the Harad are massing, allowing the dwarf to meet the Harad armies, even with the slower travel speed of the dwarves. The directions from up high above the land allow them to take handy short cuts!


Barukshathur is the dwarven name for the eagle, who's eagle name is unpronounceable by the dwarves. It is translated to mean Axes of the Clouds, referring to the deadly beak and talons of the eagle.


Look later this week (or next) to see Barukshathur in action (all going well)!


In game terms I'll be using the stats for Gwaihir, there not being a lot out there in the way of eagle profiles. He's pretty expensive, 125 points (more than my dwarven heroes), but I could use a little speed. Of course, I'll have hardly any dwarves! I haven't got the rulebook yet, but I guess Gwaihir has to lead his own warband (of which I have none) and therefore to make the 700 points I have to have three undersized dwarven warbands.


Anyway, we'll see how it goes!