Busy Weekend: Workbench Products

Good morning gamers,

I had a very productive day yesterday and got a few projects done that have been sitting on the workbench for a LONG time. Most of them are woodland terrain pieces, so hopefully you'll get to see some Elf games coming up in the next few months. All of these are still WIP, but here's a look before they get to their final state.

1) Large Mountain

The mountain was provided to me as a free bonus after purchasing a new vacuum...great deal right? :P Spray painted dark brown with some added gravel to it, I'm preparing to paint it up grey in some spots (to include the rocks, I think) and add some towers and ladders. I think I even have some stone stairs that will be added too...

  2) Small Abandoned Wall

I'm growing my Wild/Lonelands collection to support my Weathertop map and this is one of the pieces. The wall is very low, providing a minor barrier bonus and an in-the-way for short/crouched models. Besides that, there's a rock and a "pillar stump" that might become a well. Not yet figured out what that will be. This too will get some gray and some grass flocking around some of the wall, pillar, and rock.

3) Small Woods

Three small woods that have been in my collection and in dire need of repair/creation since I started the hobby. Been working on twist-tie wire trees for a while and I think I have enough of them now. I need to add more flocking to the ground and find a way to get leaves on the trees, but we'll work on that later - especially with the following project...

4) Larger Wood

Ah, nothing like a woodland clearing with lots of trees surrounding an open space. Some of the entrances restrict deployment with woods that can be crossed through, while others are nice and wide, allowing for large battle lines to walk through. Tried to not mess up too many formations, but we'll see how much of this becomes woodland terrain and how much of it is open after the next spray-painting session (ran out before I could do this one).

Some Elves defending a copse of trees - you can see from here that an individual model can navigate through the tight trees.

Northern side, other models can walk through that one too.

That's it for now gamers - expect to see some additional content this week, as I try to get some detail work on my armies (especially Goblins and Elves)!

Battle Report: To the Death: Easterlings v. Moria

Hey Reader!

This is Centaur with another battle report - the first in a series on the Easterlings, which is the army I'll be working with until the end of April.  The army list will likely vary from one game to the next (as I'm experimenting with different heroes and unit choices, so we'll see how that goes), but on the whole the army will be a Warbands-certified list that will feature a few mainstay heroes across all of the reports and a few changes here and there.

For today's battle report I met up with Tiberius and we got in a game with a unique Moria build (I really enjoyed the list), and mine will be a mix of traditional "battle line" Easterlings with a couple of kataphracts (heavy cav) supporting Khamul, the Black Easterling as its army leader.  So to show you all the army lists:

TMAT GT15 recap (part 3)

and here we are back again for Round 3 of the 2015 TMAT GT!


Round 3, Board A: The Host of Rohan vs. The Glory of Erebor

Weary and sore from the drawn-out campaign, the trudging feet of the dwarves are soon drowned out by the sound of hoofbeats as a band of Riders comes from over the hill. Balin swore he would contine to lead his bretheren, and Eomer claimed his mount would carry him past the dwarven lines to victory as the too adversaries prepared to clash. The dwarven brothers wasted no time hacking at the Rohan standards, with Dwalin handidly destroying one and Balin striking a hefty blow against a second. Spurred on by their example, the missiles of the dwarves proved uncannily accurate, felling many skirmishing riders.

TMAT GT15 recap (Part 2)

On with part two of the TMAT Grand Tournament recap (played Mar 7, 2015).

After a few minutes checking out the awesome pre-tournament hobbying projects, the tournament started off with...

Round 1, Board A: The Defenders of Eriador vs. Isengard Unleashed

Saruman, ever determined to scour the shire, rallies his uruks and prepares to march on the halflings. Much to his surprise, the little folk are joined by a squadron of valiant dwarves who lead the shirelings. Balin swore he would push the uruks back behind their lines, and Saruman placed a bounty on Balin's head. Although the magic of the Istari would cause chaos among the halfling ranks, it could do little to stop the shower of stones that rained down on the fighting uruk-hai. Balin personally led the charge to force the denizens of Isengard from the field [Shire Oath kept, Uruk Oath failed].

TMAT Grand Tournament 2015 Overview (Part 1)

This past weekend the TMAT crew got together for our fourth annual TMAT Grand Tournament. Dice were thrown. Armies clashed. Players laughed. Schnazzy game boards were put on display. Good times gents.

I'm still working to compile all the tourney info and gather photos, but here is a quick teaser of what is to come. Details on the tournament scenarios and army lists can be found here:

1. Tiberius' uruks once again took the tournament field led by Saruman. Breaking from his usual heavy-armor build, this time Isengard comes with an orcish filler contingent to pad the model count, counting on numbers and the power of its four heroes to lead them to victory.
2. As has been fortold, (as in, pre-GT14) Centaur's long-awaited shirelings finally had their day of glory. Led by Balin, Dwalin with a picked handful of dwarves to provide cover, the valiant hobbits sally forth for battle - making up with heart, valor and a whole lot of throwing stones what they lack in combat statlines.
3. Sallying forth from the Halls of Erebor, El zorro's dwarf army came well-prepared to enter the fray. With brothers Balin and Dwalin at the head of an eclectic mix of dwarf units, hoping axe and hardened armor would carry the day.
4. Captain Glot’s Rohan army is a nigh-staple at TMAT tournaments and the trio of Eomer KotP, Erkenbrand and Grimbold once again sought to prove their mettle. Backed by outriders, helmingas and Royal Guards, they valiantly carried the banner of the westfold into battle.
5. The Black Prince opted to take another crack with his all-mounted Rohan list from THRO14. Despite being only 26 models, the army served him well last fall with a very respectable second place finish. Led by Eomer, Eorl & Sons, the Riders of the Riddermark were ready to test their mettle against a playing field that greatly outnumbered them.   
6. Our final competitor, Red Jacket, brought the ever-popular army of uruk heavies. Led by Vrasku and Mahur, and backed by a drummer, it was an army that moves fast, hits hard and shrugs off all but the strongest blows. Unlike most of the Isengard lists we've seen, this one opted to drop ranged abilities almost completely in favor of melee units that close quickly.

Through the Smoke Rings: Thoughts on Shire Armies, and Moving Forward

Hey Reader!

Hope this post finds you all well!  This past weekend we held the TMAT Grand Tournament 2015, which was a ton of fun - major thanks to Zorro for being the tournament director for the tournament.  Much fun was had, :)  As I sit on the front porch thinking about the tournament (and without giving anything away), I wanted to provide some final thoughts on Shire armies (at least for now; I'm putting that army away for a bit, as I will explain a little later in the post).  So if you will indulge me, feel free to pull up a chair, find a comfortable position, and I'll give you some time to light your pipe as I recap a bit about my army for the GT.

The army represents the "little folk" of Eriador coming together to defend what they love from the "big folk" who would oppress them.  The army is composed of 299 pts of hobbits (well, in addition to three dogs and a horse, but yes - hobbits) and 304 pts of dwarves to add a bit of durability to the army.  Now for those of you who follow the blog you know that I usually run Aragorn fully decked out (Anduril, bow, armor - everything except the elven cloak) in this army, alongside a couple Dunedain for some additional suppressing fire in archery and a spread of Might Points in close combat.  For this tournament I opted to scratch Aragorn and the Dunedain, switch over to a Warbands scheme (instead of an LOME Shire build), and instead go for a larger model count and a number of S3 D7 warriors just to help hold the lines against the armies that I'd face.

A "Shade-y" Subject

Good morning gamers,

I've been working recently on a Mordor-Angmar army (more on them in the coming weeks), and one of the pieces I'm working on in earnest is a Shade conversion. The model is completely from scratch, using up some of my odd models that I've either decided I'm not using anymore or model swaps for Ringwraiths (more on them in the coming weeks too).

Let's give credit where it's due, though: the following is not an original thought. I've always liked the rules for Shades and thought them to be more effective than Barrow-Wights as support players for your army, but I don't like the GW model (sorry). A while back, though, I read a post by Chef of War who did a conversion very similar to the one you're about to see - even to the point of using Ringwraiths and Barrow-Wights. I liked the idea so much, that I stored it on a back-burner in case I ever decided to collect Orcs. For a number of reasons (not least is my love for Ringwraiths), I'm not creating a Mordor-Angmar list and so a Shade is justified (or necessary?).