A modern skirmish

In a slight change of direction, I picked up some modern German army figures from Empress miniatures for some skirmish gaming. So Thursday saw them get their first outing. We set up a village in the centre of the board which has been fortified. The German troops could set up anywhere in the village. The insurgents could set up anywhere around the edge of the table in groups of 5 figures with the objective of capturing the village. One additional rule we added was every time 5 insurgents had been removed the could be recycled and brought into play. The Germans had to hold out until relieved after 6 turns.

It was a very fun and tense game. The use of cards instead if dice seems to add to the tension. At one point with 2 German troopers down a group if insurgents entered the village only to be eventually gunned down by the remaining troopers.

The rules used were the one hour skirmish rules by John Lambshead.

They are quite generic, but allow you to add your own modifications. Well worth a go. Now need to get the rest of my troopers painted for next week's rematch.

Orcs and Wolves

As I mentioned in my last post I've got a few extra figures to add to the army. Is at up is some wolves. I picked these up at the York show from Warbases. Nice little figures and perfect to use as lesser war beasts.

I also had a spare Nazgul figure to paint up. This means if I wish to field all nine I have the option to use the fell beast or not. Like the rest if the Nazgul, he's all black.

I also completed an additional 5 orcs that I had spare. The idea is to add these to the orcs I had painted up a few years ago. This would give me 2 extra units of Bellicose foot.

I now just need to finish the bases on some lesser orc scouts then I can start on the last 2 units of orcs to bring the army to completion.

The time of the Orc is at hand

Well it's another unit of orcs to add to my force for Dragon Rampant. This time it's some plastic figures designated as Morannon orcs. These are more heavily armoured than the rest of the orcs and will be used as heavy foot with the offensive trait. I kept with the army colour scheme and added some eyes to some of the shields. Quite happy how they turned out.

With this unit I have a very workable force. I do have 2 more units of warriors to add with some wights and lesser orc scouts. Then there are 2 more units of orc warriors already painted, just a shame they are in more mixed colours.

Not a bad force in little over a months work. The only outlay was for the trolls and Morannon orcs, approx £25. Now just need to finish the last few units and back to some historical.

Send out your Warg Riders

Yes I know it was Saruman and not Sauron who issued the command, but couldn't resist. A great line from the film. Anyway onto the miniatures. These are a unit of warg riders to add some mobility to the army. These figures are all plastic. I do have another 4 models that need painting, but would like the additional 2 models to complete  unit.

They've been painted up to match the colours of the rest of the army.

The next unit nearing completion is some Morannon orcs. They will add a bit of steel to the battle line. I'm also busy rebasing some previously painted orcs, unfortunately they are 5 figures short for 2 complete units. I'm indebted to John who passed on 5 plastic orcs, which I'll paint up in the army colours to help these additional figures blend in.

The Fighting Uruk-hai

As mentioned in my last post I wanted to add a unit of Uruk-hai to the force. I did want to use just the Mordor Uruks that GW produced. However there price was rather exorbitant. So I plumbed with adding some of the metal Isengard Uruks, in particular some now armed figures. In much of the Lord of the Rings background it is apparent that the bow us common among Orcish ranks, so now I have a heavy foot unit with missiles.

Bow armed Uruks

Fighting Uruk-hai 

I think the two versions of Uruks have enough in common to mix easily together. Like the rest of the unit I've concentrated on black being the predominant colour of clothing. I think it makes them rather sinister. Next up should be the completed warg riders and then some Morannon orcs.