Rohan Update: New Units, New Poses

Dear Reader,

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working on some new poses for a number of my units. Some of the transformations are simple switches to keep all of my units from looking alike, while others are projects that went through several phases, and I'm really excited by how they turned out. So, for all of the craftsmen out there that love seeing some variety in the soldiers they slaughter, here are a few of the things we've been working on at the Forge, :)

Some of the switches were very simple. Take these two guys as examples:

These guys just switched fighting hands. Usually the swordsman has his weapon in a defensive neutral stance (you'll see one of those later), and the axeman has his weapon raised and behind his head. So, I got to thinking, "Why can't we have an axeman in a defensive neutral stance, and a warrior brandishing a sword above his head when bracing against an attacker?" So the switch was made, and I think it turned out pretty well.

Other switches involved receiving new weapons from my good buddy Tiberius. I currently possess two axes from his Dwarves, and he has one of my Rohan swords (which you can find on his model for Thorin Oakenshield) and one of my Mordor Orc pick axes (dwarf miner, anyone?). One of the axes ended up on this guy, whose double is situated next to him in the picture:

The other axe ended up on one of my cavalrymen, and is the reason for my 7th of 8 unique riders. The traditional rider is on the left, and my new rider is on the right:

Now, the astute observer will note that there are six riders that come in a set, and thus to have eight unique riders, there must be another rider floating around that went through a transformation. The original is on the left, and the new guy is on the right in the picture below:

Step back for a moment: how many of you would have pegged these two as twin models before the transformation? :) It's amazing what trimming back ever so slightly on the model's grounding peg to set him more forward on the horse, coupled with an arm from a Royal Guard can do! I really like these guys, and they serve as blood brothers riding with the Edoras detachment.

So, if this guy received a whole new arm, where did the spear go? I hate having extra bits lying around (which is why 40K and Fantasy are driving me up a wall right now - does anybody want a ton of plasma pistols for Space Wolves?), so I took the spear and placed it on the back of my "Warden" (who will appear below; if you get the LOTRO reference, just wait until you see the unit; I really like him, :) ). After finding a spearman and switching out their hands, my Warden is now a legit Rohan Warrior with throwing spears, including an extra supply mounted on his back:

As you can see, the warden and the other new guy are the middle, with their original models on the wings. They look different enough, and yet there's a solid resemblance with the originals. I really like the new poses, and they usually form the flanks of the front rank for the Dunharrow Detachment.

There's nothing earth shattering here (nothing like Zorro's elf transformation from a previous post), but as you can tell, I've had some fun playing around with a number of the poses of my units, just as I did with my Mordor orcs, as you can see in a past post). I'm looking forward to playing with more of them, as I've not even touched the spearmen yet, and I've got 16 of them now, :)

Until the next post (which will hopefully cover my Grey Company forces), happy hobbying!

Watching the stars,

Glenstorm