LotR: Dwarf Rangers

I've got a bunch of Dwarf Rangers done for LotR Strategy Battle Game, but I just added two more. This will allow me to field two large warbands if I want to.









Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

The Band of the White Hand

Managed to finish 8 Uruk-Hai scouts, enough to actually play a small game with.











More to come for this game: more Scouts, an Isengard Troll, and Warg Riders are all on the docket.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Reaper Dwarf Warrior

I received my first order of Reaper Bones figures--these are unpainted plastics from Reaper, based off of some of their classic metal minis from years gone by.

Let me say that I am extremely impressed, and you can read a more detailed review of the four packs I got on Play Unplugged.

Here's the Dwarf Warrior right out of the package:



And here he is painted (that's a Litko base he's mounted on):









He'll be the fighter in my all-Reaper D&D adventuring party, and here is a shot of the final quartet:



Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Skaven Warpfire Team

This plastic Skaven Warpfire Thrower team came from the Isle of Blood boxed set, and I finished it up this past Sunday for use in my Skaven army. I think I'll attach it to my Stormvermin unit.

I believe I have a pressing appointment with the Undead this Sunday, and I may need to light things up a bit! Do zombies burn?







Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

LotR Uruk-Hai Scouts

I've had this plastic boxed set of GW Lord of the Rings Uruk Hai Scouts for about 6 months, but last Sunday Rico and I played the LotR Strategy Battle Game for the first time in a long time, and it was a blast!

I have a huge army of Dwarves already done, and I will show them off sometime soon, but I wanted to do a "bad guy" force to go along with them. I settled on Isengard. I plan to do the 24 Scouts, a unit of Warg Riders, and an Isengard Troll. beyond that, we'll see.

Anyway, here are some pics of my first two Uruk test models.











The paint jobs on the box cover are very dark, and I actually think you need a lot more skill to pull a paint job like that off--I went with a little more earth tones, a bit lighter.

I've got 22 more to go, so my method may evolve over time. These guys are also on the standard slots, as base size is pretty important in this game and I want them consistent with my other stuff.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

A Mysterious Cleric

Got the third member of my adventuring party done--a Reaper cleric I found on the shelves at my FLGS (Phantom of the Attic, in Pittsburgh).





And here is a comp shot with the other two party members:



Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Reaper Fire Mage

The second member of my adventuring party stands complete! He's a really cool, non-Gandalf Reaper fire mage named Cadarius.








And here's a comp shot with the halfling thief:





In spite of all of his power and magical lore, he still cannot defeat the foe that is male-pattern baldness!

Alas! Still, this pair marks a nice start on the party. Now I need to head to the FLGS for a Fighter and a Cleric.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Reaper Halfling Thief

The latest crop of halflings Reaper has been doing looks really great, and when my buddy Jeff King picked this one up a few weeks ago, I had to get one for myself!

I sort of previewed him in the last post about Litko bases--he was black-primed and ready for painting. Well, now he's painted. Funny how that works with a figure you're excited about!







I did not do a scale comparison shot on this guy yet because I've decided to build an adventuring party around this guy using mainly other Reaper minis, and basing them all in the same fashion. I know, I'm a goob, but hey, whatever keeps you painting!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

A New Base of Operations

I don't do a lot of how-to or "process" features on this blog. Number one, I find them tedious to put together, and two, I think they're a bit boring. However, I've made a fairly significant decision to move away from using metal washers for basing, so I thought I'd share a bit about this.

First, in the past I've based a lot of minis on metal fender and standard washers. They're cheap and they work well with magnet-based storage methods. But I don't really use magnetic storage, and I am tired of the painted rims of these bases chipping both in play and in storage.

Now I could use GW-style slotted bases, but I've just decided I would use wood. I really liked Gale Force 9's MDF offerings, but their pre-cut and custom cut bases are longer available. This could change, but I'd like to make this transition now, so I went with Litko. I like supporting smaller manufacturers like these guys, so I gave them a try.

I ordered 1 pack of 50 25mm (3mm thickness) plywood bases and 1 pack of 25 25mm (1.5mm thickness) plywood bases. I got my order in 2 days! Great service! here they are:





I really like the sturdiness of the 3mm thickness cut, so I think I will be ordering more of these.

Here's a another shot:



And here's a comparison of the relative thickness of the 25mm bases in 3mm and 1.5mm:



Here's my next project, a Reaper halfling thief, primed, based on a Litko 25mm, and textured with a bit of Liquitex resin sand:



He's white-glued to a piece of sturdy card for ease of handling while painting.

Here's a Reaper pirate with a harpoon, also on one of the Litko 25mm (3mm thickness) rounds:



I'm pretty excited to make this switch and so the non-slotted base figures on you'll be seeing on this blog in the future will mostly be based on Litko's plywood 25mm. They work out to $.18 a base, and that is a little more expensive than washers, but the tradeoffs more than make up the difference for me.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

A Dandy Bravo

Not quite the Scarlet Pimpernel, but I did have a desire to do something a bit more flamboyant than the last mini I showed, so I painted this Blue Moon mini up on Sunday afternoon.








And here's a comp shot with a Reaper mini:



As you can see he's a bit shrimpy compared to the Reaper figure, but for RPG action, this sort of thing is not as big of a deal.

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

A Knife Wielding Bravo

Blue Moon Manufacturing and Old Glory have both supplied a lot of minis for my various fantasy campaigns.

Blue Moon's line of Swashbucklers, Rogues, and Desperadoes makes perfect fodder for Freeport and its mix of black powder and fantasy trappings.

Today's mini eschews noisy firearms, however, and instead places his trust in some good old fashioned knife work.







This fellow already had the misfortune of clashing blades with a very angry halfling (one of my party-members!).

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott

Ugly Men With Sticks

In reading the wonderful Freeport sourcebook from Green Ronin, I realized that the various city watchmen amount to little more than men with lousy dispositions and big sticks. No halberds, no pikes, no fancy armor. Not these guys at all. Just ugly men with sticks.

Now where might I find a group of miniatures fitting that description?

Enter Old Glory's Revolting Peasant Mob packs again!









These minis certainly won't win any prizes for sculpting excellence, but they get the job done, and they're a breeze to paint. And my players love beating the crap out of them!

Thanks for visiting!

--Scott