The Lord of the Rings: Armies of Middle Earth: April 2010

Wednesday, 7 April 2010

Ruins of Osgiliath

I haven't been too excited by much of Games Workshop's recent Lord of the Rings stuff as the further it gets from the films the less I am interested in it. I did buy the new plastic fell beast. however, and may start that this weekend.

Their latest announcement is much more interesting: plastic Osgiliath ruins and for the comparatively bargain price of £15 a set.

Guy and I like the Minas Tirith warriors and they are very quick to paint and even though Orcs take a bit longer we are both enthused about street fighting in the ruins so may start to get some more figures painted before the ruins come out in May.

Wargaming Middle Earth

I confess that I had never been a fan of The Lord of the Rings until Peter Jackson's monumental films came out. I had never read the books and had, years before, given up on The Hobbit half way through. Now I have read most of them (I am still struggling to finish the Return of the King) and whilst acknowledging their influence and scope still don't think they are particularly readable.

No, for me , it was the fantastic images created by the film that inspired me. Oddly, when Games Workshop came out with their Fellowship of the Ring boxed set I didn't buy it as I couldn't see how you could turn a film featuring largely invincible heroes into a satisfactory game.

It wasn't until D'Agostini came out with their Battlegames in Middle Earth part-work that I got interested, at the prompting of my little boy, Guy, and subsequently subscribed to the magazine; eventually collecting every issue.

I painted the 12 goblins included in the first issue in a day and my little boy and I immediately played a game using these and the cardboard Aragorn included as well.

Since then I must have acquired hundreds of figures, although very few are painted. Most are designed by the Perry brothers and are, as a result, completely gorgeous. Some of them are truly remarkable portraits, in 25mm, of the actors who played the parts in the films.

Occasionally, LotR games are played at Guildford but the main driver for me in getting more figures done is Guy, who loves playing the game.

So over the next year or so I will see how many more of these splendid figures I can get onto the gaming table and even have a go at making some scenic items.