Breeding An Army

I've been getting my nose to the grindstone over the last couple of weeks. Firstly, I'm back at work after the summer holidays, which means that I've got less time to paint. However, I also decided to try to make some real progress and finish off all of my unpainted Isengard forces for Lord of the Rings.

Now, I have to admit that whilst painting these I discovered that I hadn't yet painted Grima Wormtongue, and there are some regular Orcs that could technically fit in the army, but I've at least completed all of my Uruk-Hai.

First up are the five remaining plastic warriors. These sculpts really do show their age compared to some other models I've been painting recently, but fortunately they are relatively easy to paint to a tabletop standard fairly quickly.

I can't see myself doing any of more of these or the pikemen in the future, but I may end up doing some plastic scouts or a demolition crew.

Last Christmas I was bought four crossbowmen, and I was really pleased as my games up until that point had seen my forces shot up from a distance whilst my opponents maneuvered with impunity.

However, I was way of starting these models as they were encased in a spider's web of finecast resin sprue. Up until this point, I'd not actually assembled any finecast miniatures, and after this, I'd be wary of buying more. It was horrible. The resin cuts away easily enough but there's just so much to tidy up. I've got used to much better casting.

However, let's be fair, my frustration with them is nowhere near the level of trauma caused by the Suicide Squad Katana from Knight Models.

Another addition to my ballistic capability is the ballista. It may be a little bit of overkill, but it might give opponents pause for thought about where to position their big hitters if a massive spear can skewer them from a distance.

I bought this second hand on Ebay, and it's actually missing the spear from the actual machine. However, I don't think it matters that much as it could be in the process of being loaded. However, the fit of the parts wasn't great either and so decided to base it to provide more stability.

First of the two characters I've done is Ugluk, the leader of the Uruk-Hai that capture Merry and Pippin, and is one of several characters that I felt were somewhat diminished in the Two Towers film. In game he has the rather thematic ability to kill his own men to provide a morale bonus, and so I will need to paint a couple of regular Orcs to provide a cheap supply for this bonus.

I was disappointed to find a chunky mold line running across his face and through his eye. However, if I squint, I can pretend it's a scar.

Vrasku is in neither the books or the films and is a creation if Ganes Workshop. He comes with a frankly enormous crossbow which can be used to deadly effect.

A better sculpt than Ugluk, but I've stuffed up the face a bit. It's probably best to not look too close at these two.

As I said earlier, I still have Grima and some Orcs to paint, and I may pick up some scouts and a demolition team. I also want to buy some Warg Riders and a Troll. All of these can wait though, as I have more than enough for any games we are likely to play.

Thankfully, the effort of getting fifteen models painted makes severe inroads into my tally, even with three models arriving for my She-Ra project.

Acquired: 167

Painted: 147