Aragorn, You Need More Men (Backlog Clearing: Mar-Sept ‘25)

Hey all, it’s been a while.

I haven’t posted since March, as I had to pack my modelling and painting equipment back in April, expecting to move later than month. A move, which is yet still to happen. 

I intended to post this when I did, as a way of refreshing myself before I get back on the painting in the new house. But with nearly five months now having past, I need to do something hobby related to break up the limbo.

So back in March, I had an event looming in April for my Army of Edoras. I had six rohirrim left to finish from my Battle of Edoras starter set. And I managed to get them polished off, completing the good side of that box.

Next up, with all distractions aside, James and I had seven stones looming in May. With the move looming all year, I had suggested we do something low key and fun. We had a small collection of spitballed ideas, and we settled on one I had dubbed ‘How am I supposed to trust you!?’ This was an army entirely comprised of those in Middle Earth, who betrayed, backstabbed or cheated those who trusted them. As the idea developed, James suggested that we blend in the BBC series ‘The Traitors’ into the theme. I went away and watched a series as research…then another, and soon had watched all of them and all the other countries too as I painted. It was a little addictive.

Having assembled our horde of scum and villainy, we set to getting them sorted. First up for me, Ted Sandyman. Fool that I am, I had one from when I got Lotho for my Fantasy Fellowship…but parted ways with him because ‘when will I ever have a need of him?’ Less than two years later, as it happens.

Rather than scour eBay and hope to get one for an inflated cost, I took the opportunity to build my own. Since I would also need a handful of hobbit ‘traitors’ to follow him, I bought a cheap second hand pic of militia and chose one to Frankenstein. Below is the model i chose and my planned conversion (no, I simply cannot take any more graphic design requests).

 

I manipulated his hammer arm and cut the hand off to reposition it. I also cut off his other arm and moved it to a nice, accusing point, with added finger of justice! 

The idea being that he can stand on the display, accusing a fellow traitor of…well being a traitor, in typical traitor fashion. So to highlight it, I also added a traitors cloak, which I painted in a nice vibrant green.

I then quickly did up his militia buddies to join him.

Next traitor up for roll call, was Boromir. Using his Breaking of the Fellowship pose, as it illustrated him just after his weakest moment, seemed fitting. And not at all because I needed him to be done from the paint queue. He also got a nice green traitor’s cloak.

Next up, I did a couple of quick repaints on Grima and Saruman, as they both had old, chipped paintjobs that I felt I could improve upon. It was also a nice chance to practice my variations of whites on the wizard. I had ordered a better posed Saruman for the Traitors feel.

 

Luckily, I wouldn’t need the old Saruman, as the new one did arrive in time and I got him sorted out. I felt the pose was perfect for a dramatic round table shouting match.

 

With him, my half of the army was done, with some rebasing on old models to give wooden bases to fit the display board. 

 

We got the nomination that we wanted and six losses in all our great games with plenty of silly revelry. James had done an epic job of his half and a class display board for a truly hectic round table! Another successful Seven Stones! #Milk #Moretickets

 

With all events that needed models all ready, I was free to just paint what I felt like. I opted to do my Rohan Traitor banner for Lord Thorne’s warband. 

I wanted to do a different colour scheme for mine, as I’m a special little flower. And liked the feel of purple and black together, which seemed fitting for Lord Thorne, who seems to be a well dressed and equipped man. And plan to do his warband and himself in similar style, when I get to it.

 

As April started, and packing was intensifying, I decided that I had time to paint one more small project, and opted for the newest Gandalf the White.

This was partly as I wanted to strike while the iron was hot from my experience of doing Saruman’s whites. I should credit the faintly varying shades of white to Will Poynter, who advised never going white, but always an ‘off white’. Meaning always mix a tiny bit of another colour into the white, to make it a more natural colour and help avoid blending all layers into one solid. I used a variation of light greys, creams and browns to give slight distinction to each white I used, and was really happy with how it came out! 

And it was here that I left my painting, packed it all up ready to move. And nearly five months later, sadly, still awaiting my paint revival. But hopefully soon…as Throne of Skulls is calling, I don’t have a lot to paint, but a fair bit to build…and if I don’t, I don’t just let myself down…

Clearing the Backlog, Part 22 – Can you build your way out of a backlog?

No. As much as we would like it to, building models doesn't take them out of your backlog. At the same time, building models can be seen as a way of helping to better manage your backlog. 

Let me explain – if you're like me, and you end up collecting multiple boxes of models, eventually you're going to run out of space for those boxes. So, much like those adverts you used to see on TV about consolidating your debts, I set about consolidating my multiple boxes into one single, manageable [I hope!] box of models. 

My starting point for this building extravaganza was the Battle for Edoras boxed set. I’d been meaning to put this together for a while and, fresh from Seven Stones, I wanted to do some more leisurely hobbying. Along with a couple of others who'd also bought the boxed set, I donated the two Rohan house kits to a friend, so they could put together a table of terrain for the EAHC, so they were one less thing to worry about. 

I started by assembling the Rohan half of the box. Now, I've read a lot of comments that the newer plastics are fiddly models to build, and they are correct. However, as someone who has put together a lot of multi-part warrior models previously (and anyone who has played 40k or Fantasy might also say similar), I didn't necessarily find them as challenging as someone who is new to the hobby might find them. Of course, this isn’t intended as a boast – I'm simply saying that experienced hobbyists who are used to fiddly kits (in theory) find them easier to build. As I was building them, I did appreciate the level of detail, even if you're living in fear of dropping a piece and never finding it again. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. 

The two heroes, Haleth and Hama, were also fun to put together – ever since GW started making the multi-part plastic hero kits, the quality and level of detail has improved exponentially – really excited to see what else they might have in store down the road. With the heroes done, the Rohan half of the box was assembled!

Next up were the Men of the Hilltribes. The two heroes, Wulf and Targg, are lovely models with lots of detail – I'm really looking forward to painting those when I [eventually!] get around to them. The Hilltribesmen were just as fiddly as the Rohirrim, but the most impressive thing about the kit was the variety of options – the models can be given different wargear and have optional shields. The poses are also quite dynamic, albeit that converting them is trickier due to the uniqueness of the poses. Having said that, I don’t really do that much converting when it comes to my armies – maybe the odd weapon swap here and there for a bit of variety. As I kept building, I gradually got into a rhythm, and a few evenings' work later, the Battle for Edoras boxed set was assembled!

Next in the queue was a model I'd been looking forward to building for some time – the Snow Troll! Forgeworld models always take a little longer to assemble, given you have to give the model a soak and a scrub first to remove any release agent – the individual parts also need a fair amount of cleanup. However, the quality of the miniatures is superb. After another evening's work and a little bit of Green Stuff, the Snow Troll and his handlers Shank and Wrot were assembled!

With those models done, I quickly realised I was well on the way to having a sizeable Besiegers of the Hornberg force. A quick bit of list writing later, and I'd worked I only needed to buy another box of Hilltribesmen, plus two boxes of Crebain, and I'd have an 800 point army. So that’s exactly what I did!

Next up, I turned my attention to the rapidly growing collection of unassembled Rohirrim in my backlog. I'd picked up a number of them through various eBay and Facebook Marketplace trades, and decided the time was right to assemble them. Fortunately, all of the warriors were the original Rohirrim sculpts, so it was simply a matter of clipping them off the sprue and tidying up the moldlines. This turned out to be quite laborious, as over the years I'd managed to collect four whole sprues, giving me a total of 48 Rohirrim, plus the 24 in the Edoras boxed set – 72 Rohirrim warriors!

I then turned my attention to the Riders of Rohan I had still not assembled – fortunately, I only had 18 of them. I have a couple of armies planned that they can go into, such as a Fords of Isen list, as well as Eomer's Riders. To complement the forces, I also assembled the Eomer, Knight of the Pelennor model, as well as Grimbold and his Helmingas command. Last but not least, I managed to get my hands on Eorl the Young – with him put together, my collection of Rohirrim was finally fully assembled!

So, with everything assembled, I did a quick count up and realised I had condensed over 100 models from their separate boxes into one single box – it's slightly mind-blowing to realise just how many models you accumulate just by buying the odd random box here and there. However, both armies will be great projects to work on when I (again, eventually) get around to painting them.

Having assembled the two armies of Rohan and Dunland, I was finally ready to get back to some painting, and now that Armies of Middle Earth is finally here, I could at last turn my attention to an army I've been waiting to paint for ages – my Easterlings!

My collection of Easterlings comes in two parts – I have a contingent lead by Amdur, that fights alongside my Pelennor-themed Mordor list, which is fully painted. This portion of the army would be lead by the Dragon Emperor! I also added a number of Black Dragons, plus some regular warriors to be lead by Rutabi and Brorgir. Last but not least, I added a Dragon Knight leading a warband of Dragon Cult Acolytes. 

As for the colour scheme, I wanted them to look different from Amdur's cohort, and to try a painting technique I'd used previously and see if it could be applied over a whole army. Fortunately, when Battle Streams in Middle Earth hosted its Easterling week, I had the perfect opportunity to try it out. 

I started by painting the armour with Iron Hands Steel, before applying a drybrush of Stormhost Silver, doing the same to the weapons. I then applied a Sepia wash over the armour, trying to build up a gold colour over a silver base – it took about four layers of wash to get the desired effect, but I was really happy with how it came out – I then painted the red cloth in the same way as Amdur's Easterlings. 

With my test piece sorted, it was time to see if I could paint the entire army in the same way. I started with a warband of regular warriors, plus a captain  and standard bearer. The trick to painting turned out to be patience, as each painting session became a case of applying the layer of wash and then leaving it to dry, before repeating the process in the next session. However, once the armour was done, the rest of the model painted up very quickly – much like Warriors of Minas Tirith, Easterlings consist of two big blocks of colour – the armour and the cloth, plus a few additional details to pick out. A few painting sessions later, and I had my first warband of Easterlings! I based them to match my Erebor and Dale armies, and they were ready to assault the Lonely Mountain!

The captain, banner bearer, Warpriest, Rutabi and Brorgir were painted in the exact same way the warriors, apart from the banner itself, which I painted using actual gold paints in order to make it look different from the armour – I also used a brighter shade of red for the banner to distinguish it from the cloth. Brorgir and Rutabi also got some additional highlights, such as their armour, cloth and cloaks to help them stand out against the regular warriors – with those models done, my Easterling army was well on the way!

The next test were the Acolytes – these are slightly different to the rest of the army as there is much less armour to paint. However, I used the same techniques as the warriors, and the armour really looks great – I then painted the cloth and leather parts in the same way as the warriors, and I was left with some really unique looking models! I also did a bit of conversion work on the Dragon Knight, replacing the wonky Finecast swords with spares from the Black Dragon kit, which handily comes with a left-handed sword if you decide to give one of them a banner – win-win!

With those models done, I turned my attention to the Black Dragons. They were painted in similar fashion, with the exception of painting the usual red areas black instead - another couple of weeks’ work and they were done too. The Host of the Dragon Emperor was nearing completion!

So, with those Easterlings done, I've managed to pass 130 models painted for the year. This army is turning out to be a really fun project, although I know the Dragon Emperor is going to pose some challenges – at the moment, he's sitting in multiple sub-assemblies, some of which I'll need to paint together to make sure they're consistent. Fortunately, I also have the motivation of an upcoming EAHC event at the end of September – having a fixed deadline will be a great incentive to actually get these models painted, and I can't wait to get them on the tabletop. 

Now, if only GW would hurry up and send me those War Drakes I pre-ordered…

Errata/FAQ Time: Eagles, Lightning, and Spiders! :O

A non-exhaustive look at some Errata/FAQ suggestions that I'd like to see, whether for lore or gameplay reasons. What did I forget to include? 

ERRATA

 

Armies of The Lord of the Rings

 

The Last Alliance

-Add the following to Heroes of Fortitude: 

"Cirdan the Shipwright"

[He was very much there!]

-Change the first additional rule to the following:

“A Last Alliance Army must include at least one of Gil-Galad and/or Elrond, as well as at least one of Elendil and/or Isildur.”

[Heading off the Erestor+Isildur build that the "unique hero" wording allows, or even Cirdan+Isildur!]

-Add the following Additional Rule:

“You may not include more Elf models than Men models”

[To prevent the Isildur+Elf spam lists which lean into "Whirl of Blades"]

-Add the following Special Rule:

Legendary Might of the High Kings-

 “Whilst within 6” of each other, Gil-Galad and Elendil may apply the following rules:

-They may re-roll any Duel Roll results of a 1. 

-The first time each turn that Elendil spends a Might Point, roll a D6. On a 4+, the Might Point is free and does not reduce his store of Might.

-If Gil-Galad slays an Enemy Hero in Combat, he regains a point of Might spent earlier in the Game. 

[Currently the double High King is probably the weakest build, and with a real Might deficit, let's give them a boost!] 

 

The Eagles

Change the Piercing Cry Special Rule to the following:

“Once per Game, at the start of any Move Phase, Gwaihir can use this special rule so long as he is alive and on the battlefield. If he does, then all enemy models gain the Fearful Special Rule. Additionally, enemy models within 6" of Gwaihir, or attempting to Charge Gwaihir, cannot benefit from special rules that would allow them to automatically pass Courage Tests, with the exception of Heroic Resolve. These effects last until the End of the Turn.”

[This does give the eagles a turn of being extremely hard to charge, but doesn't stop the opponent from being able to play at all]  

 

Army of the White Hand

-Change the Conjure Lightning ability to the following:

"This Magical Power targets one piece of terrain on the battlefield. The piece of terrain should be a ruin, a stone or brick building, a cave, a rock pile, an area of woodland terrain, or some other piece of terrain where the caster could crack rock or bring down branches or debris from overhead. (Agree with your opponent which pieces of terrain would be appropriate before beginning the game). When cast, you should have no friendly models within 6" of the piece of terrain (with the exception of Grima Wormtongue). then roll a D6 for each enemy model within 2" of that piece of terrain. If the roll is equal to or over the Strength of the model, or is a natural 6, then the model immediately suffers a Strength 4 hit and, if it survives, will be knocked Prone. If a Cavalry model is successfully affected, both the rider and Mount will suffer a Strength 4 hit before being knocked prone- they will automatically count as suffering the Knocked Flying result on the Thrown Rider Chart. 

 [Lightning tends to strike the tallest things in the area, rather than being a tactical airstrike!] 

-Add the following to "Serve the White Wizard!":

“If The Wild Man Oathmaker is included as part of your Army List, friendly Wild Man Chieftain and Wild Man of Dunland models gain the Isengard Keyword.”

[As well as being thematic, they can benefit from an Isengard Troll’s War Drum]

 

Depths of Moria

-Add the following Additional Rule:

“A Depths of Moria Army List must either include:

a) At least one of The Balrog and/or The Watcher in the Water;

b) Or else at least one Cave Troll in the Warband of your General, and then an additional one for every additional 3 Warbands taken. E.g. The Fourth, Seventh, Tenth… taken warbands must include an additional Cave Troll.”

[I’d be fine with just part a), but I wanted some caveat to allow an Army List themed entirely on Balin’s Tomb, preferably worded less clumsily]

 

Armies of Middle-Earth

 

Malbeth the Seer

Change the "Gift of Foresight" Special Rule to the following:

“Whenever a friendly Arnor model within 6" and Line of Sight of Malbeth suffers a Wound, roll a D6. On a 6+, the Wound has been prevented and is ignored. Note that if this roll is failed, a Hero model may still use Fate Points as normal."

[Arnor is far too grindy for such a hordey D6 army- a 6+ brings them in line with similar rules like "Oblivious to Pain" and "Great Resilience" and the general move away from negative play experiences. If you disagree, you probably play Arnor] 

 

Fiefdoms

Add the following sentence to the end of the “Leaders of the Fiefdoms” Special Rule:

“Warriors may not benefit from this Special Rule more than once, regardless of how many applicable Heroes are in range. This Special Rule may stack, however, with Wargear Rules which also confer a +1 to Wound, such as a Lance or a Two-Handed Weapon.

 

Arnor

Change Malbeth the Seer from a Hero of Fortitude to a Minor Hero.

 

Druzhag

Change the Ranges of the following Magical Powers:

Enrage Beast from “Self” to “12”

Fury (Beast) from 12” to “Self”

 

Legacies

 

Gildor Inglorion

Add the following to ARMY LISTS

-Rivendell 

 

Balin the Dwarf, King of Moria

Add the following to Keywords:

“EREBOR”

[This allows the Special Rules of Ori and Oin to work with Balin without opening them up to working for all of the other Khazad-Dum Heroes, which seems reasonably balanced]

 

Ashrak

Add the following to the Spider-Kin Special Rule:

“Additionally, Ashrak may include Mirkwood Giant Spiders and Mirkwood Hunting Spiders in his Warband even if they are not listed in the Army List Ashrak is included in.”

 

Warg Marauder

Add the following bullet points to the rules text at the top of the profile:

-Although there are three Goblin Warriors as the Riders, this model counts as a single model towards your Army’s model count.

-In order to count as slain for the purposes of your Break Point and Scenarios that end when one force is reduced to 25%, all three of the Riders must be slain. If your Army List also includes other Goblin Warriors armed with Shields or Bows, then mark the Riders of the Warg Marauder in such a way so that they are identifiably differentiated from those Warriors. If you have multiple Warg Marauders in your Army List, then any combination of 1 Shield and 2 Bow Riders slain will count as one slain Warg Marauder.

 

Grand Army of the South

Add the following to the ADDITIONAL RULES:

“Khand Warrior models may only be included in the Warbands of Easterling or Khand Heroes”

[I get that it’s not exactly in line with the other rules (except perhaps where Harad and Far Harad can mingle, as well as Fiefdom Troops with Gondor Heroes in the Defenders of the Pelennor Army List), but in an army list where Khand is fairly boxed out by other options (and Khand’s rules being pretty insular), I thought it would be nice to have a token Khandish Chariot option in with the Easterlings. It’s also a nod to the old Khandish Mercenaries profile.]

 

FAQ

 

Armies of the Lord of the Rings

 

Rivendell

Q: When applying "Invoke the Bruinen", in the case of Cavalry models do both rider and mount suffer a S4 hit?

A: Yes.

 

The Eagles

Q: In the event of Gwaihir moving before enemy models, is the range of the “Piercing Cry” Special Rule measured from where Gwaihir is at the start of the Move Phase, or where he finishes his Movement, or both?

A: Measure the range from where Gwaihir is at the start of the Move Phase, and make sure to mark the affected enemy models in a suitable way before moving Gwaihir.

 

Legacies

 

Gildor Inglorion

Q: How does Gildor Inglorion’s rule for including Lothlorien Warriors work in the “Road to Rivendell” Army List?

A: Gildor Inglorion may be deployed with Wood Elf followers as a second warband whilst the other Hero models deploy as a single warband.

 

Expedition to the East

Q: If a model finds the Treasure in Expedition to the East whilst holding an Objective, Heirloom etc. what happens when they are removed from the board?

A: Place the carried Object in Base Contact with the Model, and then remove the Model.

 

Great Beast of Gorgoroth

Q: How many Followers can a Great Beast of Gorgoroth include in its Warband?

A: A Great Beast of Gorgoroth may not include any additional Warrior models in its Warband.

 

Moria Blackshield Drum

Q: If taken as part of the Depths of Moria Army List, do the effects of this Drum stack with the “Drums in the Deep” Special Rule?

A: The Courage effects will stack, so that friendly Moria Goblin models will gain a bonus of +2 to any Courage Tests they are required to take, whilst enemy models will suffer a -2 penalty to any Courage Tests they are required to take. The Moria Blackshield Drum does also count as a Banner for the purpose of scoring Victory Points whilst it is being played, though remember that any single Combat cannot benefit from more than one friendly Banner Effect. Additionally, neither the Moria Blackshield Drum, nor the “Drums in the Deep” Special Rule, will stack with any “Harbinger of Evil” Special Rules in your Army List.