Into the Wild: Weathertop, Part 3

So in today's post, I've done some detail painting to the Weathertop board (TEDIOUS!) and finished the columns for the top of the structure. To display some of the terrain work, you'll also see shots of my Ringwraith conversions (more on those guys in coming weeks), a shot here of my son Gorgoroth, and some of the final touches that have been put on my Wild Warg Chieftain conversions (more on them after THRO). While Weathertop is great and all, it's only part of a board that will be used in the upcoming THRO 2014 tournament. The rest of the terrain pieces that will be used will be seen too.

Operation Dunharrow: Terrain Update 1

Hey Reader!

So, I've been wanting to do a Dunharrow map for years now, 1) because Rohan was my first army and I love my Rohan guys, 2) because Eomer, the Third Marshal of the Riddermark, hails from Dunharrow and he's my favorite guy in the Trilogy bar none, and 3) it would give me an opportunity to pursue a very different form of urban map, as I like urban maps, and while I've designed a number in my time, they always have a Gondorian feel to them (nothing against Gondorians; in fact, since my Rohan force is on loan right now for the tournament my Gondorians and Grey Company models will be showing off the terrain pieces to you in this post, :P ).  What is more, I've always wanted to play around with a castle idea, and this map gave me a chance to do that.

In this post, I'll be looking at each of the terrain pieces going into my Dunharrow Map, as each of them has a unique contribution to the board.  Before diving in, I'll note in passing that all of the pieces were cast by GrandManner, which is arguably the best resin casting group in the world, and the detail and quality of their products are truly top-notch.  I'd been looking at investing in some GrandManner pieces for a while, but due to cost and shipping I shied away.  Then they did a 20% off special and some email-based deals, and I caved, :P  What follows is a large purchase from their 28mm Dark Ages Collection, coupled with about 14 hours of painting (plus about an hour of base coating, give or take), and you've got a number of pieces that I'm so glad I got done in time for THRO!

Conversion Updates: THRO 2014 List and New Arrivals

Hello readers,

When I got back from vacation Saturday morning, my family all went to sleep and I stayed up and hobbied around (because once I'm up, I'm up). For today's rather eclectic post, we're going to be focusing on some conversions and new arrivals that will be seen in the upcoming THRO tournament and quite possibly the next GT...we'll have to see.

Isengard, Part III: Strategy and Tactics

Hey Reader!

Today we conclude our three-week series on Isengard, focusing on some tactics and strategies for pairing and using units in an Isengard force.  Over the past two weeks we looked at the hero and warrior choices for Isengard, and today we want to focus on some beneficial pairings for Isengard heroes and warriors when planning out an army.  I'll mention in passing upfront the following:

This post will not say that running Such-and-Such an army build is wrong.

The point of this post is not to criticize how people build their lists.  Do you want to play a fun thematic list that is centered around Sharkey and Worm?  Go for it!  Play the lists that you enjoy playing (and there is a reason for playing with those two heroes, by the by, as we noted in Part I of this series), and if you have heroes you'd like to use but don't know how to make the most of them, feel free to comment below and me and my team at the How will find a way to fit them into an army you like, :)  What this post is intended to show, however, are some of the best pairings for armies and heroes to suit a particular style of gameplay.