A long time ago two boys, who in adulthood would meet New York City to become friends, read some books collectively known as The Lord of the Rings. In the appendices is a story which would burn in their minds for the rest of their lives, the War of the Dwarves and the Orcs.

We tried a few preliminary SBG games about two years ago. I fielded a force of Mordor Orcs with a banner and two captains against a party of Dwarf Warriors and Dwarf Rangers lead by a captain. My poor Mordor Orcs were spanked like the naughty children the are. I was clear we had much work to do to realize our dream. So we put the project aside for a while. Now it is time to begin again.

On thread I'll work on new personality profiles, scenarios and house rules for this game. I'll also post the progress of the miniature conversions and paint jobs.

DWARVES

We will be using the GW LOTR figures and their SBG profiles. We wanted more hero models so we are considering using some of the Hasselfree Dwarves.




I think they should fit in perfectly with the GW LOTR figures.

The big problem we have been having with the LOTR figures is that the axes break off. We need to fin replacements for them. I'm hoping these Hasselfree ones might work.

Any and all suggestions/criticisms would be greatly appreciated.

Rob

I have had the same problem with pikes. The plastic oxidizes and they break. I have begun replacing them with wire. If Wargames Factory ever sorts out their problems we can use there plastic dwarfs.
I like the models you have picked out. Look at Reaper they sell weapon packs too.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

If you pick up any of those hasslefree dwarves please post a size comparison shot with some lotR models! I want to do a dwarf warband myself but I can't stand the GW plastics, always on the lookout for alternatives.

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Talaan-u rûk-ir tor Urûk
Nauru-ir agh kragoru nûrsu grishûrz
Nork-ulu furtun agh goð
Mordor-ob bot-tuk

lol that one dwarf certainly reminds me to gandalf ; is he the one called grimdalf?:p

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goblin: "people associate me with boogers because i am green"

Yes he is. Here is Grimdalf the Grey:


Do you mean these?



Will do.

Since most of Durin's Folk lived in Erebor during the War of the Dwarves and Orcs, I want to add some units of Ravens of Erebor.

What do you guys think? Should I use the profile for bat swarms or make up a new one?

Depends on their size/amount. Dunno what's strongest bird or bat? Bats seem vurnable. But birds are to.
U could at least take over some of the stats of bat swarm.

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goblin: "people associate me with boogers because i am green"

Ravens of Erebor.
The stats of a bat swarm? That is a tough call. I think of bats as scary and dirty but not dangerous. When I think of the ravens I think of spy's or demon familiars. Ravens are more aggressive than bats. I have never seen a bat chase off a cat.They were very dangerous in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. I would think about better stats. I am not sure how to point them up.
Who made the models?

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Yes the Ravens are large birds and can do some damage to a person. I'm not sure how much damage they should do at the moment. These are from Splintered Light Miniatures. The make 18mm fantasy figures.

I missed the birds have you seen the bats?
Never mind they are next to the birds on the web site.
David and his father are good people.They are just on the other side of town.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Mega Miniatures http://freeboardgamesnow.com/fantasyothernpc.aspx
Some of these might do.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Thanks for the link Oldman. The shields don't look suitable at all, but I have found a few Dwarf figures which should work well with the GW ones. They're less then $2 a figure to boot!

FANTASY Guthrie Grenadier
There are some good figures in the FANTASY Guthrie Grenadier line as well. Lots of good female figures for rangers dwarfs and hobbits in that collection.
I am glad the link was helpful.


Mega Miniatures http://freeboardgamesnow.com/fantasyothernpc.aspx
http://freeboardgamesnow.com/fantasyjul ... spx?page=2
http://freeboardgamesnow.com/fantasytow ... spx?page=2

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Ok my opponent all ready has Khazad Guard (from Balin's Guard box set), Dwarf Rangers, and Dwarf Rangers. All he needs now are the ravens and more hero/captain figures. So for now this ends the Dwarf section.

ORCS
Now on to my portion of this grand adventure; Orcs!!! Now I've never been satisfied with with a single plastic box set for Mordor Orcs. Orcs are a viscous rabble and they should damn well look like it. I've tried to find orcs from other manufactures, which will match the GW ones. You can see my efforts on this thread: http://one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=20246

In addition to searching for compatible orcs, I've begun to convert my plastic orcs. Please excuse the photo quality, my camera doesn't do micro so well.





The orc on the left isn't finished yet. He needs a left hand and a shield.

Converting this spear orc turned out to be easier than I thought.

I used a club form the Warhammer Flagellants set for the orc on the right, but the Warhammer weapons are just too oversized. Well back to the chopping block for him.

they look nice so far

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goblin: "people associate me with boogers because i am green"

I think the top and the bottom of the warhammer weapon would make good mace heads jut cut them off and lengthen the weapon shaft 5mm or 1/4 inch. Save the center section of the weapon for a caltrop.
It would probably look alright to cut the shaft just above the the bottom metal part of the club. I think it would look better with a little more shaft.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

I think I'll drill out the hands and use a pin for the shaft and attach only the very top of the mace head fro the striking head.

Thanks garmenhord. I'm going to try to do 20 conversions before I start painting.

Here are some more Orc conversions. I've swapped heads, right arms and in some cases ring hands. They will still need some putty work to fix up the joints.



I've added a new mace using another mace head from the Empire Flagellants Set. I think the shaft is too long, and this mace head seems too big. What do you guys think?


I'm getting more poses with these plastics than I initially thought.

Very nice! I always love those little conversions which have such a good effect to make an army more personal!
Well done so far!

What are those bases from?

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CMON-gallery

Thank you Bart.


They are Galeforce 9 magnetic bases. They add weight to the plastic figures. And they're magnetic, which I find useful for storage.

The conversions are fantastic - and much better than the original GW models. I agree the shaft is too long on the mace, but the mace head looks OK for size? It would be great to see a mace head on a chain ala witch king Can't wait to see them painted up.

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"...that there's some good in this world Mr Frodo - and it's worth fighting for."