Gothmog and Elven Riders

With a follow up game this week I neefed an extra Orc captain to lead the 3rd battalion. A quick rummage in the spares and I came up with Gothmog. Its not my favourite model. I also don't like the GW/Peter Jackson version where Gothmog is an Orc and not a Black Troll. To keep him company I painted up another 3 Orcs.

With my Orc army nearing completion it was time to turn my intention to their Opponents. Now I already have some Gondorians and Rohirrim, but these are not suitable for the 1st Age, so Elves are needed.

My first submission is some Elven Riders.  The bodies are Conquest plastic Normans, the Cloaks are from Fireforge and the plumes are from Oathmark. I did use some greenstuff to make a chest plates for a couple of the riders. Next time I'll try to make them thinner, but not bad for a first attempt.

I've ordered another sprue to make a second company. I'll the need to paint up my mounted version of Glorfindel to lead them before starting on some infantry.

DR Battle Companies

On Thursday night I umpired the first game, running a few amendments to Dragon Rampant to allow larger games and make it easier for multiplayer games.

I made some adjustments to Command and Control, giving each command random activation points. This seemed to work well and helped the game flow. Another rule was limiting the number of rounds that missile units can fire.

The game involved a detachment of Elves linking up with some Men of Gondor after tracking an Orc raiding force.

The good guys had the following

Elf captain
2 companies of light foot - mixed weapons

Human captain
4 companies of heavy foot

Human captain
3 companies of light missile
1 company of rangers

Human captain
2 companies of Elite riders - controlled

The Orcish raiders were as follows

Orc captain
3 companies of warg riders
1 company of wolves

2x Orc captains each with
4 companies of heavy foot
2 companies of light missile

The game kicked off with the Gondorian heavy foot occupied a defencive position on a large hill. The Elves and knights moved to extend the right flank.

The Warg riders crossed the river looking to get behind the Gondorians. The Orc foot kept it simple and headed straight at the enemy.

With the Warg riders threatening the flank, The Gondorians recalled their cavalry and turned their archers to meet the threat. The first Orc battalion opened fire on the Gondorians before their heavy infantry charged  home. The first assaults were beaten off, but the Gondorians could ill afford the loses inflicted upon them. The Orcs must of had the whips of Sauron on their backs as their morale held. The Gondorians counter attacked, but were beaten back. Their captain was forced to join the fray to best back the Orcs.

With the Elves pouring fire into the flanks, things seemed to be going well as an Orc company broke. However 2 of the Gondorian heavy infantry companies collapsed under the pressure. Led by their captain the Orcs surged forward again. This time a Hero of Gondor stepped out and slew the Orc captain in personal combat. The morale of the Orc battalion was shattered, but so 2 was the Gondorians as the last of their heavy infantry faltered.

The Elves on the flank were becoming cut off as the second Orc battalion moved forward into the gap. With only missile troops remaining and their knights negated by the warg riders. The good guys ceded the field.

Overall the amendments seemed to hold up well. Positive comments from the players. I'll tinker with a couple of things before a second trial game next week.

War of the Silmarils, Orcs of Morgoth

Well after a few more additions this week, my Orc army is nearing completion. I've more than enough for the size of games I am envisaging. That's not to say I will not add a few more, I've still some Oathmark Goblins left and would like to add a few more wolves.

There are just over 200 figures in this force. They are a mix from GW, EM4, Grenadier, Warbases, Irregular and Reaper.

I've not got to complete some Elves for first age battles. Probably get some figures from Oathmark as I have a few ideas of using Norman figures from Conquest as Elven cavalry.

Dragon Rampant at the Club

On Thursday night at the club, some of my recent additions to my Orc army got there first run out as part of a 4 player game  each with 50 points. I was partnered with Mitch and we had a veritable horde of Orcs led by Nazgul. We also had a few trolls to add a bit of muscle. George and John had an alliance of Men, Elves and Dwarves to face us.

The game came down to Mitch getting his forces moving against George who couldn't roll above a 3 in every combat. This saw his Elves and Dwarves pummelled. On my flank, the Orcs seemed to spend all day sitting in the woods. The poor Troll attacked on its own and was made into a pin cushion. Late in the night I eventually attacked with some mixed results. But enough damage was done to claim victory for the Orcs.

Now back to painting more Orcs before I can start on some Men and Elves.

Orcish left wing

After completing the central division of my Orc army of 7 units, I turned my attention to the left wing of the army. This will be made up of 5 regiments of Orc warriors. I will also add a couple of detachments of archers.

The figures are a mix of the GW Isengard Uruks (both plastic and metal) with a few of their orcs mixed in. There is one old Grenadier spearman added. One of the regiments is a figure short and have their commander added for now. (The one with the wings in the center)

After a rummage around in my spares box I came across a couple of half used sprues of Uruks. I'll now be able to make the second regiment all pike. I've also picked up a couple if EM4 half orcs which look a good match. These will be based up as Champions to lead the force.

I have sufficient orcs left in the lead pile for the right wing, probably 4 regiments. To which I can add 2 regiments if Warg riders, some wolves and 2 Troll regiments.  I also need to finish some more movement trays, 6 done and 9 to go before purchasing some more.

Trolls and Uruks

First painting update of 2020 and it sees further progress on my LOTR collection. First up is 23 Uruk Hai. These are a mix of metal and plastic GW figures. Eventually the Pike will form part of 2 planned units. The metal Uruks are some of my favourites of this range. Not so keen on the plastics as too uniform. These figures have all had there armour re-done and some of the paintwork touched up. Some of the bases still need finishing off.

Next are 3 War trolls from Reaper Bones that I've decided to repaint. I was never happy with the bluish skin colour. So I decided to go as per the books which describe Trolls as having a blackish skin. I think they look much better.

With these done I've got another 26 Orcs that need basing with another 30 or so needing painted. I've also picked up a figure to use as a female Balrog to act as one of the army champions. A bit smaller than I expected so trying to raise the base. Then again the books tend to portray the Balrogs as around 7ft tall.

2019 in review

First off, Happy New Year to everyone. So how did 2019 go? On the painting front I have seen the downward trend on numbers has continue. Quite alarmingly so. Part of this I put down to moving my wargaming gear into a new shed and the loss of a permanent painting table.

10mm artillery - 3
10mm cavalry - 21
10mm infantry - 37
15mm infantry - 112
15mm cavalry - 156
28mm artillery - 1
28mm infantry - 235
28mm cavalry - 20
28mm monsters - 15
28mm vehicles - 9
Total = 609 figures.

So what did I paint. In 10mm I made a start adding a few figures to my Crimean war project, but this stalled with a lack of a suitable opponent.

The 15mm was the completion of my Ottoman Turk army. Very happy with how these turned out. There were also a few additions to the WSS French and GNW Danes.

In 28mm it was mainly centered around a few games that have been the mainstay at the club. In particular Dragon Rampant and Rangers of Shadow Deep.  This saw me dust down some old fantasy figures to complete the various scenarios. I also made a concerted effort to complete a Lord of the Rings army. This will be ongoing into 2020.

Another ruleset we've had great fun with is One Hour Skirmish, I painted up some modern Germans, insurgents and vehicles for this. There have been plenty of fun games with these rules.

I also picked up some Border Reivers for more skirmish gaming. I plan to expand this collection with some civilians and buildings.

On the gaming front I finally completed the big 4 battles of the WSS. Refighting Oudenarde and Malplaquet. With the amendments that Mick has made with the rules would love to do Blenhiem again.

Going forward I would like to pick up my Franco Prussian War project. I have a French Corps that needs a 2nd Division and I would like to add a Prussian Corps to the collection. But for now I need to complete my LOTR Orcs as I have a few ideas for big battles with some amendments to Dragon Rampant.