Tuesday 12 May 2020

Forging Ahead

I've been busy making steady progress in assembling the miniatures needed for the first scenario in the War in Rohan: The Burning of the Westfold.

However, as well as the miniatures, in order to play this scenario I will also need something to burn. Actually, seven somethings.

Here's one...


I'm quite pleased with this little forge, as its largely constructed from stuff I had knocking around the house: coffee stirrers, tongue depressers (don't ask), cardboard and a scouring pad.

I'm particularly chuffed with how the scouring pad has come out as a thatched roof. The corners are a bit neat, so next time I do something like this, I rough it up before painting.


The back of the forge leaves a little to be desired, with a noticeable gap and a slight lean at the far end. I might add some bits and pieces round the sides, and maybe even put a rough patch on the gap, as if the blacksmith hasn't had time to fix it properly.


At the heart of the building is Mantic's Blacksmith's Forge Terrain Crate, adding so nice details to draw the eye away from the roughness of my building.

Once again, I had warping issues which refused to be totally fixed by hot water, particularly on the gorge itself, so I'm glad it's largely hidden. After the issues I faced with the market set, I'm now in a position of being quite unlikely to spend more money on Mantic Terrain, when I can probably get better quality elsewhere.

However, the smaller bits are really nice and make and add some much needed to detail to what could be a dull piece, and overall I'm delighted with it. It will work in Rohan and all sorts of fantasy settings, such as Rangers of Shadow Deep. What's more, should I ever play Saga again, I can use it there too.


Speaking of being delighted, do you remember these chaps from the last post, and the fact that I wasn't happy with them?

Well, I've recently been watching some live streams from Zorpazorp Gaming, who have a ton of Middle Earth related content on YouTube, and saw a suggestion to use GW's Typhus Corrosion technical paint on Uruk-Hai armour. And so I tried it.


It's really dulled down the metal and made it more grimy, and I'm much happier with it. So much so that I now want to go back to these and add a few more details like white hand insignia.

I'm not sure I'm going to do the same with the rest of my Uruk-Hai, as I was happy with them and it serves to make identifying the different types on the board easier.

Despite the fact that when I bought the Mantic Forge I counted it as six models, given that it wason last year's tally, I'm only calling this one model, as it is only one model. This is set against two character models that have arrived and the tally has stayed rather stable - althoughimm now at the end of the birthday money and so I'll start making headway again soon.

Acquired: 184
Painted: 173

4 comments:

  1. I really like that forge! I've got a Mantic forge/furnace piece that a friend gave me, and I'm trying to work out how to use it. This is really helpful. I agree about some of the Mantic terrain being wonky, though. It's a shame, as the more blocky pieces are great.

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    1. I spent ages trying to work out where to use the forge, whether I would need a stone building, could it work on the outside of a building, etc.

      I started the build of the shack by attaching panels to the back of the forge first to get the dimensions of the wall right, and works from there. It didn't take long.

      Another tip, I painted the thatch before attaching it, and I was doing this again, I'd use something more sturdy than cardboard for the roof.

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  2. What a great build! Love the forge Kieron, the thing just works so well.

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