Project: Terrain and Batch Painting

Though most of this was supposed to be done during "Uruk-Hai Month," we kind of fell behind in the deadlines. Most of this was due to all the batteries running out and never making a run for more, but we've started some new scenery projects

So, if you haven't gathered from my games on this blog, I play with Wood Elves. Though all Elven armies greatly gain from the presence of at least one wood (or a forest, which has a larger base), it is obvious that a Wood Elf army would gain a serious advantage from the in-the-way rolls of the trees and the reduction of movement that enemy units will face trying to charge through the wooded terrain. In the Stone age of wood creation, the building projects were primitive at best and "hardly looking like trees" at worst. Today, there's a new strategy afoot... shaping trees from leftover Styrofoam.

Here you can see four new trees on their 6" woodland base (the recommended size for a "wood" in the game). These trees all look different, as they should, and will be getting some paint for appearances. The base is simply some cardboard, but I'm planning on giving it some color too, just to make it clear what terrain is wooded and what isn't. The trees have their own bases so that they can be moved to different places on the wooded area, allowing for flexibility and creativity. I'm also working on trees made from wires, which will allow for thin trees with generally realistic appearances.

Since we're talking about painting, a few other terrain features have been painted recently: hills! Basically there are two different kinds of hills in the game: first, hills that don't require a climb test but have a vertical rise and second, ones that have a causeway or something that allows you to get up. The hill on the left is an example of the first, while the one on the right is an example of the second. Of course, in some scenarios you have "crags," which are basically the first kind of hill with a "climb test required" on at least one side because it's difficult terrain (or a steep slope).

In other news as far as scenery is concerned, I've done some work on a small ruin that I've added to my tunnel fighting equipment, since they're always so short on buildings. This one has a small ledge that a unit can stand on and shoot from (climb test required to get up) and he should get an in-the-way roll unless someone is at his level. There is also an alcove which is great if you are an archer and want your body to be partly obscured while you're shooting at someone, but it also allows a unit to be trapped basically by terrain alone (besides the one guy he's fighting). This is fun, as it literally makes units fight with their backs against the wall when they get stuck there. You can also see the beginnings of an edit that I'm making for some of my Wood Elves - Elven rope!

So...several months ago I finished batching my Uruk army. Batch painting can be hard because you get tired of painting the same things on the same units ten or twenty times (at least). In this case, I did it 36 times...which is really pressing it. Prior to the day I batched the Uruks, some had chain mail painted, but most only had their base coats (which were starting to show some wear) and all but one had their skin done. So, the armor and the chain mail were done on all of them, as well as adding detail to their weapons. I mixed some of my metallic silver paint with a small tub of black acrylic paint to make a glossy black, reminiscent of the dull shine on the armor of the Fighting Uruk-Hai at Helm's Deep. For the most part, the Uruks still look very black...very very black, but I like how now they have a distinctive shimmer to their armor and weapons, which is great.

I don't know if I've mentioned this on my blog, but each of my units is painted differently, though the whole army shares a color pallet to make the army look uniform. For the Uruks, I need to be able to give 37 Uruks a different look so that they will be a cohesive army but have clearly different markers. As such, I've tailored my painting scheme to work for 36 units (banner excluded), which will go something like this...

• 18 units will have black clothing, while 18 will have brown clothing. This will add to the darkness of the army's color.
• Of the sets of 18, the units will have "white hands" imprinted on them that will either be a single right hand, a single left hand, or a set of two hands (6 of each).
• Of the 6 of each set of hands, half will have the hand/hands right side up on their chests, while the other half will have the marks upside down on their heads (3 of each).
• For the three identical units in each set, there will be one of the following as far as their weapons go: blood on their blade, a silver shine on their blade point, or no alteration from the current color scheme.

This will provide 36 distinct and similar Uruks at the end, with the only major differences being their hand prints and weapons, which should keep the army looking uniform (and if the hands come out well, they should look neat!). The pikes haven't had their hands added, but those will come later. Be on the lookout for more "Understanding the Strategy" pages as Winter turns to Spring, as the armies should have all of their units by then and my tactics for each army can then be shared!

Domination: Goblins vs. Wood Elves

I'm going to bring up all of my armies (except the Fellowship, naturally) to 10 recorded fights before a grand tournament of games between the different armies. The competitors today will be my Wood Elves against my Goblins...and Gaius has chosen the Wood Elves, just to make things harder. Here are the forces:

The Denizens of Moria: 400 points

Durburz, Goblin King of Moria - 60 points
1 Cave Troll - 80 points

16 Goblin Warriors with shields - 80 points

16 Goblin Warriors with spears - 80 points

13 Goblin Warriors with Orc bows - 65 points

1 Bat Swarm - 35 points

48 units, 13 bows, 1 hero

The Guardians of Lorien: 402 points

Galadriel, Lady of Lothlorien - 130 points

8 Wood Elf Warriors with Elven blades and thrown daggers - 80 points

12 Wood Elf Warriors with Wood Elf spears - 96 points

4 Wood Elf Warriors with Elf bows - 36 points

6 Galadhrim Warriors with Elf bows - 60 points

31 units, 10 bows + 8 thrown weapons, 1 hero

Note: there are a few stand-ins for the Elves until their real units arrive - working with Zorro on that. For the purposes of this game, 4 Wood Elf archers are going to be traveling with the spearmen as spear-wielding fighters (if any of the spears are killed in combat, we'll substitute out one of the archers in his place). Also, you will see Celeborn, Legolas, Haldir, Gandalf, Aragorn, and Boromir representing Galadhrim Elves with Elf bows...if these guys were the heroes that they are, these heroes alone would be more expensive than the Goblin army as a whole (more like 50% larger, actually).

The scenario we will be playing is a Domination game on a board that is 48" long by 48" wide. The armies will pick their corners and may deploy their units anywhere within 18" of their corner. There will be 4 objectives on the board and the goal is to hold three of these objectives (have more units than the other player at any given objective) before the game ends. Once one side is broken, roll a dice at the end of each round: on the roll of a 1-2, the game ends and the objectives are tallied. If both sides have two objectives, the game is a draw. Since draws are a huge possibility, both teams must press for three objectives during this game.

The map is set up as follows: On the north there is a forest and a hill, while on the south side there is a ruin and a cairn of rocks. These four points will be our objectives. After a tied first roll and a second roll, the Elves  have chosen to select their corner (the northeast with the wood), ceding priority to the Goblins for the first turn. The concern that I have here is that in games like this, the speed of the Goblins really puts them at a disadvantage - I need to rush to both of the forward objectives and survive the Elven archery fire. My troll is going to need to play the critical role in keeping the Elves out of one of the objectives and crushing everyone he fights - hopefully he'll do okay. I was hoping that the Elves wouldn't start in the woods, but oh well...fortuna tends to favor the Elves in the roll-off anyway.

In today's fight, you'll notice that the Elves I'm facing are no longer Legolas' Mirkwood band. Instead, the Elves have chosen to follow the path of their Lorien lady, Galadriel. With 31 units, the Elves now have a volley team for large games, but here, it simply remains a strong core of archers (some of which I don't wound on 4s...grrr). They also have a good deal more units than they used to, which makes things doubly interesting.

By contrast, my army sports more Goblins than ever before and features a Bat Swarm. Though this unit only has Defense 3, it's 4 wounds are a great asset for staying alive. In games like this, terrain (or the troll) to block for this unit is critical to defeating the Elves. If a Bat Swarm is in base contact with an enemy unit, it's "Blinding Swarm" rule indicates that the Fight value of the enemy unit is cut in half (rounding down). This means that for 35 points, Elves fight at the same Fight value as my Goblins when a bat swarm is participating in the fight - that's a good investment! We'll see if I can keep him alive though (10 bows and 8 thrown daggers wounding on 4s is not very promising if he's not protected).

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Turn 1: The Slow Advance (Priority - Goblins)

The armies move towards each other and hold the objectives they started at. The Goblins race across the field as quickly as their legs can carry them with the Bat Swarm moving swiftly around the ranks to put some cover between him and the enemy archers. The Cave Troll goes boldly to the center of the map while most of the archers remain at the main base to volley at the enemy. The Elven archers reposition in the woods, touching each other as closely as they can so they can volley. Most of the army moves to the northwest objective, while a small corps of units moves towards the other objective to hold off the oncoming Goblins. I assume that Gaius is going to use his archers to support these guys.

In the Shoot phase, both sides volleyed, and only the Goblins managed to kill someone (yaye!).

Kill count: Goblins 1/31, Elves 0/48.

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Turn 2: The Assault Rages (P - Elves)

As the Elves press both of the unclaimed objectives, the units manage to gain valuable cover from the Goblin archers. The Goblins are also closing one the objectives, promising to have a difficult fight in the upcoming turns.

During the Shoot phase, both sides hit 4 times with their volley fire (that's 8 total hits between the two sides). Of those 4 hits, only 1 managed to wound on each side, with a Goblin taking an arrow to his head (wear your helmets kids) and Galadriel suffering 1 wound (no Fate used).

Kill count: Goblins 1/31, Elves 1/48.

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Turn 3: Deadly Aim (P - Goblins)

As the armies near each other, the Elves are saddened that they are out of throwing dagger range. However, the Elves have claimed another objective (with a vast horde of Goblins approaching steadily) and contest an objective claimed by the Goblin Bat Swarm (who can't be charged by any of them because they can't see him...nice play, huh Gaius?).

During the Shoot phase, the Goblins volleyed and only hit once, failing to wound Galadriel with the shot. The Elves, however, put their volleying to rest and leveled their bows at the Goblins coming down the center of the map (assisting the Cave Troll). In a blurry of shots, they nailed all four of the Goblins pictured here and only missed one shot (four of them shot at the Goblin archers a stone throw outside of the left frame of this picture).

Kill count: Goblins 1/31, Elves 5/48.

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Turn 4: One Last Shot (P - Elves)

As the armies move, my Goblins are put in a poor position, as I am unable to charge the throwing-dagger-wielding Elves of my opponent. Seeing that I will need to ward off a great host Elves soon, my archers clamber on top of my cairn and prepare to fire next turn. My Goblins also managed to charge one of the Elves who climbed on top of the southeast objective. This should be interesting.

In the Shoot phase, the Elves shot a concentrated targeting at my Bat Swarm, who thankfully has the rock in the way. Eight Elves shot (the other two failed to hit my archers) and scored 4 hits - three landed and two managed to wound. Ouch. Two down, two to go.

On the bright side (aka, where the Cast Blinding Light is), my Goblins managed to kill an Elf with spear on the flank. Yaye, archers...three of you are now paid for.

The Cave Troll whipped his chain around and managed to kill someone with it (the Elf with blade). The Goblins on the stairs pushed the Elf off (despite his parrying) and he died (from my Goblins...the fall wasn't high enough to wound).

Kill count: Goblins 4/31, Elves 5/48.

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Turn 5: Domination on All Fronts (P - Goblins)

WE HAVE COMBATS! With the sound of arms rising in the morning air, the Goblins charged into the Elven ranks (good thing it wasn't the other way around). The Goblins have the same number of troops at the northwest objective, but vastly overwhelm the single (trapped) Elven spearman who contests the southeast objective. My Bat Swarm has taken to some protective cover for now, as his skills are not needed in the south anymore. I'm also trying to keep him alive. Galadriel cast "Command" on one of the Goblins I used to trap an Elf spearman and is fighting that Goblin this turn.

In the Shoot phase (as often happens in these games), my Goblins did nothing. Nothing at all. The Elves, however, killed one Goblin with spear (sniper shot to the neck actually, after a 5 to hit and a 6 to wound with nothing in the way). Seven archers shot at the troll and managed to score 1 wound (two more to go).

The final two Galadhrim archers fired at the Goblin archers they couldn't hit last turn and killed one of them. That irks...I thought I had a good harassing position.

In the Fight phase, a lot happened. For starters, the Elf down at the southern objective died. Not too much of a surprise, except that he was shielding. Yaye Goblins.

At the opposing objective, things primarily flowed in favor of the Goblins. Though my Goblins were unable to win against the Elves south of the hill, none died. On the hill itself, the Goblins won two fights (not the one with the two-handed though) and suffered no wounds while inflicting two on the Elves. YAYE! Galadriel won and failed to wound (another small hoorah), but then things got ugly. Starting from the exterior (allowing me to retreat and not be trapped all the time), the Elves won every fight with three of the combats featuring two-handed weapons (and most of those two-handed weapons won the fight) and all four Goblins died. Ouch.

Kill count: Goblins 7/31, Elves 11/48. As a recap, 9 Elves need to die before they break and 13 Goblins need to die. I don't like it when that count is so close...

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Turn 6: The Tide Turns (P - Elves)

The Elves charged into me this turn, but thankfully their 4 throwing weapons that remain were unsuccessful in wounding me (praise the Lord). He did, however, manage to surround my troops on the hill and engaged everyone...bummer. My troll and small cohort of Goblins makes a frantic run towards the woods, hoping to dislodge his troops. I'm also considering at this point sending most of my archers into the fight at the other hill. I know, though, that if I can hold both of the objectives that I own, I can push it to a draw OR wait for my Troll to do that thing he does best.

In the Shoot phase, I only hit 1 unit (that was with blinding light), but didn't manage to wound anyone. Grrr. The Elves in return slew two of my shield-bearing Goblins.

In the Fight phase, the battle on the hill was bloody. On the hill itself, the Elves dominated, losing only one fight and inflicting four losses on my forces. At the base of the hill, I killed three Elves and sustained only one loss. On the whole, I lost 25 points and killed 34 points worth of units. As much as I hate seeing the green skins lose troops, I'm okay with how that played out.

Kill count: Goblins 11/31, Elves 18/48. The Elves are 5 units away from breaking and the Goblins are 6 units away...this is going to be close and I don't like it.

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Turn 7: The Wrath of the Lady (P - Goblins)

Since I could break this turn, I need to get as many troops towards the center of the map as possible (where I've strategically placed Durburz). I get to charge the overwhelming number of Elves first in the northwest, so I try to keep them from moving towards another objective (giving that one up for lost). Galadriel immobilized my troll and the archers faded deeper into the woods, preparing to shoot at my Goblins...oh dear. The Elves prepare for a stout fight on the hill, which Gaius described as a "fight to end all fights...at least on that hill." I'm inclined to agree with him on the outcome.

In the Shoot phase, my Goblins hit once (again, where the blinding light was), but failed to wound the target (after successfully passing an in-the-way roll too!). The Elves responded by landing 6 hits on my Troll (no wounds) and killing two of my Goblins. Charging that crew of Elves is stupid, but I can't charge the other objective without running past these guys...so what are my options?

In the Fight phase, again, we fought on the hill. Galadriel used her first Might point to call a heroic combat: a trapped Goblin with shield. After one of her bodyguards rolled the needed 6, they promptly slew him and moved on towards the other units. The Elves then succeeded in killing 3 other Goblins, while my two shield troops remaining kept away the Elven warriors (though each was double-teamed). Unfortunately, this was not enough to prevent my troops from being broken, so we'll see what happens.

Kill count: Goblins 11/31, Elves 24/48. The Goblins are broken and a dice is rolled. The outcome was a 2, so the game ended. My Goblins on the hill were present, but reduced to only three units, while the Elves had a staunch 7 units. With each of us in control of two objectives, the game was a draw.

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Assessment by Gaius:

The Elves did well - as they tend to do in domination games where you are defending a wood. I was a bit saddened that the woods were only charged near the end...though that's not surprising as most of the Goblins were being shot down from afar. I liked that the Elven strength of bows came to bear in this game - of the 24 kills scored by the Elves, 11 were from arrow fire - that's really good. Two were from Galadriel, too, who isn't much of a combat hero on her own.

Assessment by Tiberius:

Having more than 26 points worth of Goblins is a huge blessing - I love it. I was sad that the Bat Swarm couldn't have done more (or anything for that matter), but such is games against Wood Elves I guess. Having to cross such a big field (even with rocks scattered for cover) was difficult, as my units are so slow to reach other objectives. I probably should have sent more forces towards the woods at the beginning so I would have a force there at the end. I wasn't expecting an overwhelming victory against the small detachment though and felt a little uneasy with sending only 8 Goblins in the first place. Still, the game worked out pretty well and the Goblins look forward to one more game before a grand tournament.

Stellar unit for Wood Elves: Galadhrim Warrior with Elf bow

In a close run between them and the Wood Elves with Elven blades, the Galadhrim did amazing today. Completing the volley team and scoring most of the kills that the archers claimed (8 of the 11), they were well worth including in the army. The Wood Elves with Elven blades did a great job too (killing at least 6 Goblins during the game and clearing out the flanking troops on the hill fight), but were strangely silent when it came to throwing daggers (no kills). As such, I really couldn't give them the credit they wanted.

Stellar unit for Goblins: Cave Troll

So I usually don't give this title to the troll much because it's a bit unfair (as he costs the same as 16 green skins). Still, he absorbed pretty close to 20 shots and was wounded only once (though most of those hits met their target). If those shots had been coming towards my Goblins, I'd probably have lost an extra 5 or so...which is crippling for this army. I love that he serves as a pin cushion for my troops and they direly need one as the foes they face frequently use Strength 3 bows.

Understanding the Game: Creating the World of Middle-Earth

So, it would be so easy to simply play on a flat plane (say a kitchen table) with no rocks, hills, trees, or buildings. For some armies, this has definite advantages, but in reality, the world isn't like that. The same goes for Middle-Earth - its flavor is simply lost if you don't have hills, buildings, woods, and rivers in it. So, today we're going to learn some of the rules for terrain in the Lord of the Rings world, since that does shape the way units are used. We're going to focus in particular on the Wood Elves, since their life and death tends to rely on the presence of terrain.

1) Obstructing terrain

Obstructions can take the form of any object that gets between two objects, but some of the most frequent obstructions (besides people) are fences/walls, trees, rocks, and buildings. Whenever an obstruction prevents a unit from seeing another unit (remember that seeing is able to view clearly the torso and head of the target), the target cannot be shot at, targeted with magic, or charged by the aggressing unit. This is important, since it can allow units to surprise others and catch them off guard (or lose them).

At other times, an object will only cover part of a unit - perhaps a fence prevents you from seeing below the chest of a unit or a wall prevents you from seeing the right half of a unit. In this case, the unit can be shot at, targeted with magic, or charged, but he gains an "in-the-way roll" when there is an attempt to wound him. How this works is there is a 50% chance of the wall/object taking the blow instead of him (on the roll of a 1-3 on a 6-sided dice). When this is the case with a person blocking the view of another, the unit who is in the way will take the blow for the other unit.

Elves from Mirkwood can capitalize on obstructions if they purchase Elven cloaks. These items prevent a unit from being charged, shot at, or targeted by magic by any opponents further than 6" away if they are only partially obscured by an object. This means that they can turn what was an "in-the-way" opportunity into an inability to target. Since all Mirkwood Elves can be armed with ranged weapons of sorts (either bows or throwing daggers), this means that they can shoot at their foes with impunity and not be targeted back. In the case of throwing daggers, you're really flirting with the boundaries, so you may be able to be targeted in a later round, but for that round you'll be fine.

One last thing I need to say about obstructions: sometimes you'll want to be able to jump over a wall or climb a rock to get a better vantage point. To do this, you need to take a "climbing test" or a "jump test." This test essentially serves to see whether or not you are able to hoist yourself up on the rock or jump a fence. The chart works as shown below:

1: Unit stumbles and can't climb up/jump over - the unit cannot perform any other movements.
2-5: The unit manages to clamber up/over: place the unit on the object where he tried to climb up or on the other side of the object he sought to jump. No more movement is possible.
6: The unit exhibits great dexterity and leaps up/over the obstacle without difficult. Continue moving normally up to your maximum move distance.

2) Woodlands

Forests have many roots and rocks that make the ground uneven to walk on. This means that units who are not accustomed to the way the woods are need to watch their steps and thereby move slower than they would otherwise. To represent this in the game, the base of a wooded terrain piece is characterized as "difficult terrain" and reduces the movement distance of infantry in half and the movement of cavalry to a quarter (this essentially makes all units slug through a forest 2.5-3" at a time). This means that units that try to pass through woods are going to be bogged down by the terrain unless they can fly (or have a rule that says otherwise). All armies should capitalize on forcing their opponents to pass through difficult terrain if they can.

As it so happens, the Galadhrim Elves have lived all their lives in the forest of Lothlorien, and (like all Elves) are familiar with how to move in wooded areas. They benefit from the "Woodland Creature" special ability (which few other units benefit from), allowing them to move through wooded areas without penalty. This is an important bonus, because not only do they get to move a full 6" through the wooded game pieces, but since most units can only move 3" max through the wooded ground, archers who have hidden themselves in the woods can move 3" backwards, keeping the same distance between them and their attackers, and still be able to shoot in the upcoming Shoot phase. This can really bite when you're an army without archery or if your archers are really bad at hitting their targets (either by sheer lack of skill or because of a special rule that makes archers less effective).

3) Rivers

Rivers can be hard to cross (unless there are fords or bridges), and this is also simulated in the Middle-Earth tabletop game. A unit who "dives" into a river treats it as difficult terrain, but at the start of each Move phase when he is in the river, he must take a "swim test." This test essentially measures whether the unit drowns or not, as determined below:

1: Unit drowns and is removed as a casualty.
2-5: Unit may move as though in difficult terrain
6: Unit may move his full distance.

If the unit reaches the other side of the bank, he takes a "climbing test," as described above. If he rolls a 1 on the climbing test, he cannot climb out of the water and then will take a swim test on the following turn. A unit who is swimming cannot shoot, but he can fight if he comes in base contact with another unit who is also swimming.

There are also modifiers to the swim test chart, particularly based on the equipment that a unit bears (since a unit without armor is less likely to sink than a unit who is weighted down with heavy mail). To simulate this, we have the following bonuses or penalties based on equipment choices:

No armor: +1 to dice roll
Mithril armor: +1 to dice roll
Heavy armor: -1 to dice roll
Dwarf Heavy armor: -1 to dice roll
Shield: -1 to dice roll

Let me put this in perspective for the Elves and a few other armies I own. The Wood Elves pictured above have no armor and do not have the options for any other equipment. From all I can tell from the rules, this means they will never drown in a swim test. What it also means is that an Elven unit has a 1/3 chance of being able to move at top speed in the water. This is a huge advantage if there is a river that separates the two armies in combat, since the Elves will be able to trust to reaching the other side quickly, while the other army will need to work to cross the river. The Uruk army I am collecting, however, equips all of its Uruk units with heavy armor and most units have shields. This means that the units in this army are suffering a -1 or -2 penalty for all their units, which means that some of their units could risk being removed as casualties 50% of the time. YIKES! Stay away from the water...but imagine now how Mirkwood Elves can use this to their advantage when fighting an army that relies on shields and heavy armor (Warriors of Minas Tirith, Easterlings, Morannon Orcs, Uruk-Hai Warriors, Warriors of Arnor, etc.).

4) Rocky ground

Sometimes patches of rocks are sharp or rough or are otherwise uneven. This is simulate in the game with rocky terrain that is deemed to be "difficult terrain," just as woods are. Woodland creatures, however, do not get a free pass on this ground (very few units do), which means that these pieces of terrain tend to be excellent traps for large groups of warriors. Use these locations to hammer units with archery or to outmaneuver them and strike a more vulnerable part of their army.

The Elves don't have a pass on this piece of terrain I'm afraid, but if they ally a unit like Aragorn, Isildur's Heir in their army, any Elves within 6" of Aragorn can pass over this terrain without penalty. For 200 points, that's a great fighter and archer, but probably not worth the cost if you're just looking for the ability to cross over rocky terrain. The Elves, however, can benefit from the protection these rocks give (if any) and then rely on the difficult terrain to slow down their aggressors.

In summary, terrain is helpful for some units and greatly aids in keeping light units alive. They also tend to be devastatingly painful to armies that lack archery or that rely too much on cavalry. For armies like the Wood Elves of Mirkwood, such terrain is their forte and gives them a fighting chance against their foes. Other pieces of terrain can help armies of Goblins, Dwarves, and Uruk-Hai, as it can prevent the devastating archers of the Elves from making short work of their front lines (or vulnerable units).

The Joys of Super Glue

Ok, so maybe for most Americans, super glue isn't anything special. However, while trying to run this hobby of mine on a budget, I've realized that super glue really is...well, super. I borrowed Glenstorm's super glue while he was away (and later got some of my own - Walmart, 4 small tubes for $0.99!), and these are the small conversions I've been meaning to make for a while now. Enjoy!

During the movies, Gimli is often seen traveling with his special two-handed, double-bit axe which he uses in the toughest fights to make a wreck of Uruk-Hai and Orcs. I borrowed the two-handed axe from the Dwarf to the right of Gimli and super-glued it to his back. Though not a great conversion, I really like seeing the axe on Gimli's back especially since that's more accurate to what Gimli looked like in the mines of Moria. The shaft was short, so I attached a small piece of metal that I got from Galadriel's Mirror (spare material, actually). I also took off one of Gimli's hand axes to be more like the one he wields in the movie, swapping axe heads with the Dwarf with shield.

As for the two-handed weapon Dwarves, I went down the line and borrowed axes from all of them, allowing for some diversity in the army. I ended up, of course, one axe short, since Gimli didn't give up one of his. So...I made a flail, based on some work I saw on the friendly blog in the sidebar. How did I make this you ask? Let me show you...(astute observers will have already noted that there is another Dwarf with a weird axe...now that everyone notices, we'll discuss him a bit later).

At a later date, I'm looking at shaping the shaft of the Dwarf's flail to be more chain-like, but I'm not quite sure how to do that right now...we'll see what comes of that. I've heard that you can point a hair dryer at the plastic miniature for about 30 seconds and that makes the plastic a bit more pliable, so I may try that on the chain to give it more of a curve, showing the ball and chain in movement...we'll see how that goes.

Blurry shot, I know. The crossbow of this Uruk came from Glenstorm (I owe him so much), who got an extra crossbow in his Ugluk and Vrasku set. Knowing that I was looking for a good crossbow conversion, he gave me the extra and I fittingly lopped off the hands of this pikeman (since his pike shaft was broken - thanks to Zorro for the pikeman) and replaced it with the crossbow instead. This gave me a stick with two Uruk-Hai hands on it. It just so happens that the hand guards that this Uruk had were spiky, so the idea immediately came to me that I could cut part of the stick off and use the spiky hand as a ball for my flail. Leaving a small segment of the shaft on and coloring it more of a chain-like color, you have the product shown in the Dwarf picture above. The other pikeman that you see had his pike break (common occurrence from what I hear from other gamers), so that was also fixed with super glue. :)

One of the other things that hobbyists of this game will be quite familiar with is that some units don't have all their appendages on in the sprue. In the cases of Aragorn, Boromir, and the Goblin King, this is very true. Household cement (what I've used previously) has allowed for things to stick and have a little wiggle room, which makes them incredibly durable - much appreciated in this hobby. However, what is also means is the pieces will...well, wiggle. Though I like this, I prefer to have these things unable to move. Introduce super glue. Now their arms not only stay right where I want them, but they also don't show the white residue of the household cement.

Legolas and the Khazad Guard are a bit different. Legolas fell on his bow one day (oops), so the top portion of his bow broke off. Now, it's super-glued in place and doesn't move - YAYE! The Khazad Guard came without his axe head and so his is actually from a two-handed Dwarf's weapon that was converted into a banner-bearer. The second bit of his axe came from the Dwarf who got a shard from Galadriel's Mirror (see above).

The final thing we're going to look at with super glue is terrain ideas. Super glue is great with cardboard because things bond instantly - be careful though, as superglue bonds instantly to skin as well. The terrain pieces are cardboard or Styrofoam (which bonds a bit slower) or pieces from the GW Mines of Moria starter set. The "tunnel fighting" terrain is my favorite to play with, as it limits fighting to corridors. The walls have been made rough by simply cutting a piece of Styrofoam in half and then sawing each without much thought to the other. The one in the middle has a place to walk inside the cleft of the rock, which provides for some sneaky maneuvering (largely in place for my Goblins). :)

You'll also notice that these terrain pieces involve actual rocks that I've found in gravel lots and things. These rocks are great not only because I love a good tunnel fighting game, but also because they provide solid barriers in any sort of combat. As an avid Wood Elf player (and a potential collector of Dwarf Rangers), anything that can provide cover for units (or count as rocky difficult ground) is a must-have. Hence, with this free material, everything works out great.

Super glue really is fun and amazing...I'm looking forward to using some of these converted warriors in battle reports soon...and if you wanted to see some of the conversions before this post, please look at the post I made on heroes and courage here or the battle report between the Uruk-Hai and Goblins here.

Nothing Related To Anything Else...But Seemingly More Important

This isn't going to make any sense, but it's important for something completely unrelated to these posts.