Alternative Classic 80s Lord of the Rings Miniatures

It is Dangerous (& Expensive) to Think About this for Too Long...

Now, as I was thinking about the range of classic Lord of the Rings miniatures from Citadel in the 1980s and it occurs to me that there are some notable gaps such as Galadriel, Arwen, the company of Thorin, and the goblin king. And this then leads me think are there some alternatives from the 1980s that could be used to fill some of these gaps? 

Galadriel 

This is a bit of tricky one to start as there are no elven magic users from the mid-1980s as Citadel had already transitioned to a wargames focus in the C08 Elven range but they had not yet started to create a range of army characters such as wizards. However, Tom Meier comes to the rescue with Syndil Starsynne who was still available through Citadel in the mid-1980s. Now I had a look on eBay and there are a few about but as part of bigger sets so a likely candidate if I can get hold of one at a reasonable price. 

Goblin King

This is an easy one, there were plenty of interesting goblins in the C12 goblins range including a range of characters that were produced in 1987. So, if I am willing to stretch my rules to this time point then I could include quite a few characters. Citadel lost the rights to Lord of the Rings by 1986? So, I will have to choose a cut off point if I want to keep it 'legal'. Plenty of choice on eBay, so it just about waiting for the ‘right’ one. 

Arwen

Arwen is another tricky one as there aren’t many obvious choices on first inspection. There was a range of pre-slotta warrior maidens from 1983, some of which might fit the bill but by 1985, the only female fighter in the C01 Fighter range definitely does not say Arwen to me!

Not very LotR!

Some of the barbarians from 1986 might have some potential but still look a wild for Arwen. So, may require a bit of greenstuff and chopping. Another option would be the low-level AD&D female fighter. Who actually looks pretty good but is quite niche and is probably quite difficult to get hold of at a reasonable price. One to look out for in future. 

The Company of Thorin Oakenshield

Another easy one to finish off with, while there is an official Thorin mini (Which I already have two of!), none of the rest of the company had a mini. However, there are plenty of useful dwarves in Citadel range at this point. 

And I plan to repair the second excellent Talisman dwarf mini as Balin. 

And Some Final Thoughts

There are still some other obvious gaps such as Bert, Bill and Tom but I can already use some of my favourites from the C20 troll range.  

Tom, Bill & Bert discuss the 'merits' of mutton. 

And Thanks to Stuff of legends & Collecting Citadel Minis wiki for most of the pictures and saving me rooting around the loft for old copies of White Dwarf. 

Rob 

Rescuing Scabby Minis

 One More for the White Hand 

Orcs and Uruk-hai surround Boromir

This time it is one for the orcs of White Hand. I picked him up recently and knew he was scabby but I didn't realise just how scabby until he turned up. However, once I got some paint on him I feel much better about him. 

One scabby orc. 

The problem  with putting all of these minis along side each other. Just highlights how much my painting has moved on since returning to serious painting. And these half-orcs are some my favourite minis from the Oldhammer Lord of the Rings mini range. But now look a bit basic however for now they will escape the paint stripper...

And another thing, I don't understand why these are listed as Half-orcs of Saruman and yet the Uruk-Hai are clearly in the service of Sauron. Surely these should also be Uruk-Hai?

While I had a bit of green stuff left over from gap filling, I upgraded the next EM4 dwarf. I am enjoying thinking about different ways to improve these minis. So, after adding cloaks to the last batch, I decided this chap needed a bit more luxury. So gave him a fur lined cloak and a new breastplate. 

And still working through my stockpile of Hopping Hare on a Friday night. 

Rob 

Advent 25 - Day 24 : Phew! Made It

Just Get to Grandma's House

So, Glenda has finally made it to grandma’s house, but grandma is clearly not at home. And now she must confront the big, bad wolf. Never one to back away from a fight especially when grandma's in peril, Glenda steps up to face the wolf. 

However, the big, bad wolf has form and promptly eats Glenda. 

Oh well, I guess I will just have to chalk this one up as a win for the bad guys. 😟

Snuck off of a crafty hour this morning to paint up Grandma? And of course a team photo*. 

*Just realised that I forgot the ghost. No time now!

Well another advent challenge completed and now time for a lunchtime Christmas beer. 

But before that I also found a bit of time last night to start working on some of my other projects. 

A couple more Roman gangers done.

And a few more bits stuck on an ork dreadnought.

And of course Merry Christmas to everyone 😁

Rob 

Gangs of Rome on a Friday Night

Friday Night Fun 

Work ongoing on the gangs of Rome, with the two small starter gangs built and the first mob base completed. The texture roller turned up during the week, and I have obviously started using it to make the bases and add to the building. 

Not a Roman!

The first of the objective marker is completed. 

It has been long overdue for a overhaul of my painting desk, workshop, home office or man cave*. So, focus this week has been on tidying stuff up. 

*delete as appropriate

The Hobgoblin continues to be a regular beer of choice for a Friday night.

Only the weekend to go before Advent starts and the adventure begins....

Rob 

33 Minutes Later

Doing Some Painting

Before 

Finally finished the latest round of work trips and time to do some painting, not really geared* for a long evening painting so went to a 30 minute finish a figure session. 

This was the first test mini with the Oathmark head on the EM4 spear dwarf body. 

Once I started painting him, I realised I hadn't remoted enough of the original plastic. So, I painted it brown to look like leather and fortunately it will be covered by the shield. Something to look out for on the next twenty!

33 minutes later

*mentally geared that is!

Its obviously not Friday night but is time for a beer. 

And one from my work trip. 

Rob 

More Jousting Scenery

Not Quite a Clockwork Soldier

I need some clockwork soldiers for the next Wartnose Jousting arena. I couldn't quite manage that, but I did put together some other worldly substitutes. 

Rob 

One all in the Conker Cup

Pixies take One back

The second tournament played was in the bone theatre, were game came won by either beating the opposing team or by one player capturing three skulls. The game played much smoother as we were both more familiar with the rules. We have been playing with it an extra point of damage caused on a successful strike. As suggested in the rulebook to bring the game to a fast a furious conclusion. 

Only one rider (my pixie - Pop) was knocked out before Snap (who proved surprisingly agile) managed to get three skulls and win the game.  

Player of the Match - Snap

With Three skulls to win the game. 

I can now finally use the 'Tree of Evil' freebie from Alternative Armies for the thornspitter arena.  

Spinning Up a New Project

As work progresses on the next Ork scrap dread, I was thinking that that they needed some opponents for some classic RT WH40K games. While space marines are the obvious choice, I did have a RT Imperial guard army when the first plastic IG kit came out  (really need to dig out the Old WD Imperial Guard army lists - WD109 I think). And I have plenty of WA minis (including a box of Cannon Fodder) that will make great IG proxies. In fact the basic cannon fodder minis are a dead ringer for the penal squads from the old army list. 

This first command squad is a mix of WA Cannon Fodder, some 20 year old upgrade kits for EM4's troopers and some random plastic troopers that I got as a freebie at Salute. Really happy with the medic who is weighed down with all manner of kit.

As this is another Cheaphammer project (i.e. minimal new minis), still need to work out how to do the commissars as there aren't many obvious choices from the minis in the 'opportunity' pile. So, I might just have to buy a couple of commissars 😶.

Rob 

Last of the Jousters

Spider Charioteer

Wasn't happy with the dinosaur and couldn't find a spider of the right size. So, ended up making a chariot for the spiders. Just a bit of painting and jousters will soon be ready. 

Away again with work but still time to sample the local stuff. 

Rob 

Two Jousting Teams Take Shape

 Ok, Not all Goblins for Wartnose Goblin Jousting

So, I have worked out the first two teams for jousting. I just need to get them finished! Definitely a bit re-use and repurposing. If I manage to get a decent run of games then I can always get a few more minis! 😆

Rob 

Badger, Fox & Giant Stag Beetle

 The First Wartnose Goblin Jousting Team 

First two jousters - To be named

After looking around various minis (painted & unpainted), I realised that the badger pixie riders (from Oakbound) would make the perfect team*. Ok so technically not goblins but close enough and make an interesting looking team. As I wanted to make each rider different, I found some different steeds from the bits box (Warbases & Ral Partha Europe). So, voila a Wartnose  jousting team. Now, I need find some actual goblins for them to go up against... 

Point to Note - Now I did realise that I bought the 50mm bases (should have been 60mm) but I don't think that will stop the fun. 

*And two are already painted! Plus was a great opportunity to use this colour shift paint on the stag beetle. 

Rob