The Lord of the Rings: Armies of Middle Earth: December 2011

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey trailer

I don't usually post film trailers but I am very excited about this. I have only watched it twice and am already humming the song!

It sounds like it will be another stunning soundtrack by Howard Shore. Oddly, for me, the novel of The Hobbit is totally identified with Sibelius' 2nd Symphomy, which I played for the first time as I was reading the book for the first time. The opening, rather pastoral, first movement actually summed up the Shire for me very well. Even more oddly, Shore's "Shire" music is musically very close to the Sibelius in feel.

The various legal issues which caused production delays have been all to the good as Peter Jackson is directing which is as it should be. Hopefully the Perry brothers will be starting work on figures for Games Workshop soon!

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.