Touranment prep: The Host of Erebor

So for those who don't know, a few of us here at T-MAT are playing a small tournament in two weeks. So...I need to get this Dwarf army ready to roll. Not only is the army in need of a little painting, but I'm bringing a dozen (or so) pieces of terrain...none of which are battle ready yet. So...I spent a few hours this morning painting up some base black on a few pieces of terrain.

Here's two ruins and a Dwarf mine which will be used in the games. The mine itself works  like an arch, with the ability for units to pass through it. I'm including an extra rock in its placement so you could block off the back end and say "it goes down into the earth, so you can only go in one way." That will be for the guy who places the terrain to decide. You will notice on these (and other ones) that the white and brown from the styrofoam/cardboard is still showing. Yes, it is. The paint job these guys received was a dry brush with black and since I'm going to go over it with a deep coat of grey, I'm hoping that the white-and-black speckled look will help in adding a different layer of color to the final product. We'll see how that goes. Next week, I'm looking to put small piles of rocks (gravel) at the base of each thing to show some ruin and decay that comes from years of weather and wind.

The mountain pieces had a bit of a problem: the styrofoam didn't want to hold the paint all the time...so we're still working on that. Hopefully the gray will hold up better, but we'll see how that turns out.

Ok, enough with terrain, let's see how you spent your president's day weekend. The army is almost completely together, with some paint on bases and a few units required. The close ups that follow will show you some of the work done on each group...

I'm pretty sure this is the first complete shot of the Unexpected Party from the Hobbit. Balin is the only player who is fully painted and based, but the others are nearing completion in their colors too. I washed the entire company in Delvan Mud (GW product) and colored their flesh in Ogryn Flesh (also GW). They turned out a bit darker than I planned, but the crew as a whole looks like they're dirty (which they would be). I'll probably touch up their skin job a little, but I like the muted colors of their garb.

Here stands Gimli above the rest of the army. The Khazad Guards are there in the front with black base paint on their newest additions (just need a little mithril metal coloring and they'll be good). Two bowmen have their new additions base painted too, so with a little brown and white, they'll be good to go.

And here stands the army in full: 38 units, two heroes, 10 Strength 3 bows, and 8 Strength 3 throwing weapons. Once the terrain comes together, I'll be really happy.