That's it for 2009 - now for 2010

Well, I've wrapped up all of the tournaments I can play in for 2009 for Lord of the Rings, now it is time to consider 2010. I've definitely decided to go with Mordor - I've got an absolutely huge stash of Mordor models, so I am hoping to create a "buffet" of options I can pick and choose from and use different forces for each tournament. Some of the models I really want to use:

- The Witch King
- Orc Drummer
- Orc Shaman
- Mordor War Catapult with Troll Loader

I've put together my first list, which I may use for the Gathering, depending upon how it play tests.

Nazgul

The Witch King of Angmar (2/10/0)

Cirith Ungol

Gorbag with shield
Orc Drummer

20 Orcs with shields
8 Orcs with two handed weapons
11 Orcs with bows and spears
Mordor War Catapult with Troll Loader and extra crewman

Points: 600
Models: 47
Might: 5
Bows: 11/44

I'm thinking of this force partly because of the experience at the Gathering last year. There were a lot of horde forces, particularly with high defense. Anthony's Uruks (which have appeared two years in a row, so I think I can count on them being there again) and Sean's Minas Morgul are examples of this. While I can try to go horde as well, I really like playing with models that people don't normally see in tournaments. Yeah, the drummer is becoming de rigour these days, but when was the last time you saw Gorbag, the Witch King, or a Catapult? These guys can definitely be used well, and I can see very bad things being done with all of them.

One other thing that I'm doing is modifying all of my plastic archers. I want to be able to use them as both trackers and spear carrying orcs, so I'm adding small magnets to their quivers, which I'll then use to hold paper clip spears. I've only got about 30 orc archers together, so now I can do both without having to buy any more models, and still be able to field a horde of trackers or spear/archers if I want!

HMS Guerriere done without rigging

Finally finished working on the Guerriere, with the exception of the rigging. I really should have done some of that before I based it, but I got impatient. I'll try to do that once I've primed the other three ships I've constructed.



The most interesting aspect of all of this was the base. I was kind of torn on this one - the directions in the Trafalgar book give a method that produces a very blue ocean, like what I'd associate with the Pacific or the Mediterranean. I wanted an Atlantic color, though, which would be more grey. So I went with a thinned basecoat of Adeptus Battlegrey over a black primer, followed by an overbrush of Fenris Grey, and finally a light drybrush of Space Wolf Grey over the peaks and around the area the hull would go. I may try white instead of the SW Grey next time, but overall I like the effect much better than the rich blue that the rule book uses.





I also finally got the other three ships built and ready to prime. I'm going to do the US ships with a black primer and the other British ship, along with the sails, in white. I'm trying to leave the masts in the British ship, while putting the other masts into a Starbucks' cup sleeve (putting the masts into the corrugation) for priming.

I also learned an important lesson in construction of these ships - build them one at a time, and don't do it when you're distracted. The masts and sails are just too similar to each other - I ended up putting the wrong sails on masts something like four times while building the USS Essex and my British sloop, and when I finally finished I found I had actually SWAPPED MASTS, and trimmed the mast to fit already. Well, crap. Fortunately, they don't look TOO crazy off, since it is going from a ship-sloop rig to a small frigate rig. But from now on I build one ship at a time, no more.

First ship for Trafalgar!

I am really excited! On Thursday, I received my shipment of four 1:1200 Age of Sail ships from Langton Miniatures, and I could hardly wait. Well, school was interfering, and so today I finally got a chance to put one together. Here is a French built 36 gun frigate that will be used to represent HMS Guerriere, the first British frigate that .









I've still got three more ships, incuding the USS Essex, a ship-sloop, and an oceangoing schooner. But I am thinking that I'll paint the Guerriere before I get rolling on other models.

I'm really excited about playing Trafalgar, so I'm going to getting to work on these ASAP.

Building for Must Do done

OK, I've gotten the last couple of Warriors built, plus they and the Guards of the Fountain Court are based. So at this point I've got everything on my "Must Do" list constructed, cleaned, and sanded. Next up is priming and basing. After that, I'll probably just bring the Warriors up to the standard the other Warriors are currently at, and then shade them all together. I also need to get cracking on making the rangers I have now appropriate with shading and highlighting. The last step in this list will be to paint up the Guards to fully done.

I'm hoping I can get all of that done by the end of the weekend. Don't know, though. I've also got the plastic rangers and Ecthelion to do after this, so I need to get cracking.

New priorities

Well, while watching some more Firefly on DVD, I finished these fellows.



In the Army, there was a saying: "No plan survives contact with the enemy." As it is here. I've got an opportunity when I finally got these models, and now that they are converted and built, there really isn't any reason to not move them ahead of finishing the Citadel Guard. So these six boys are moving onto my "Must Do" list, and I'll be getting them based, primed, and painted before the Citadel Guard.

Cutting in line

One of the things that my wife likes to do with me is to snuggle together and watch DVDs in the evening. It's nice together time, and it's fun to watch TV on our time. However, this does distract me from working on the important stuff, like models. I'm kidding, of course. Particularly since my wife just saw that.

I've noticed that it's pretty much impossible for me to paint and watch TV at the same time. The light sucks, there isn't a good way to brace my hands, and I just am not focused. However, I have found that I can build stuff and clean mold lines and the like while watching TV. Well, I got a wild hair up my butt this evening and these guys decided to cut in the priority line:



The biggest pain in the rear was freeing the shields from their former hosts. I managed to ruin one shield in the process as well as stab myself in the thumb with an exacto knife. So if you see red on one of the models, yes, that is my blood. I give to this hobby.

A small errand

Well, I had almost forgotten about another tournament I'd wanted to go to, an event being put on by the Powers of the North in Cotati, CA. A friend of mine is running it, and my parents live about a half hour from there, so I figured it would be a good trip. Well, it's next weekend, and I really, REALLY want to have a fully painted army for it.

Fortunately for me, this is only a 500 point tournament. So less to paint, right? Well, kind of. The tournament gives a bonus to people with fully painted armies, but there won't be the tough standards one would expect at a GT. So that will be easier. However, I had a much bigger problem.

For the army to be Legions legal, I have to have both a hero from every list and no more than 1/3 of the warriors armed with bows in the army. Well, six of my painted models are rangers, with bows. So I can't reduce the numbers in my army too much or I start losing them. Plus dropping lots of numbers is anathema to me. The easiest way to go would be to just drop the King of Men and lead it with Gandalf. Unfortunately, Gandalf isn't the any of the Minas Tirith lists. And there is NO way I'm dropping Mithrandir. Besides, then I'd have even MORE to paint.

So the solution I came up with was this: Drop the King of Men, then use the Rangers of Ithilien list, from which I can take Damrod, the 20 point hero of goodness. Yep, he only has 1 wound and 1 of M/W/F, but he counts as a hero, and he even has a bow! So here is the list I developed.

Gandalf

Damrod

6 Rangers
6 Rangers with spears
17 Warriors of Minas Tirith (I got three more in the mail last week)
4 Warriors of Minas Tirith with spears (hey, they're already painted, so why not?)
4 Citadel Guard

Total: 500 points
Models: 39
Might: 4



So that's my list. This does mean that I have some really, REALLY quick painting to do, as seen below.


22 models to paint, 4 of which need to be built, and 11 of which need to be checked for mold lines again. I was going to prime the warriors last week when I primed the rangers, but unfortunately I found fat mold lines on almost all of them. I thought I'd gotten all of them... Grrr. So it's time for a real quick plan.

Tonight: Remove mold lines, build, sand, and possibly put the base coat of brown on the primed bases.
Tomorrow: Prime the models that haven't been done already, then do basecoats for the rangers (including Damrod). After primed models have dried, basecoat of their bases.
Tuesday: Overbrush of warriors and guards then wash. While wash dries, do first layer of highlights for rangers.
Wednesday: Drybrush highlight of warriors and guards, followed by basecoat of cloth.
Thursday: Shadow warriors' and guards cloth, then detail rangers. Drybrush bases and flock the rangers.
Friday: Detail warriors and guards, then flock their bases.
Saturday: Go forth and kick butt!

Alas, I did something very foolish last weekend. I went to get a book that we'd ordered, and while walking through the mall to pick it up, I passed a video game store. I ended up picking up an RPG for the Xbox 360, Mass Effect. That's one of the reasons I haven't gotten more painting done, I've been playing silly video games. It definitely takes time away from my silly miniature games! I'll have to try not to play this next week, and hopefully actually get some tests corrected for my classes.

Vital contruction complete (mostly)

OK, I've got the first stage of construction done.



I am still waiting on a few models to arrive via the mail, and I'll get them cleaned up before I start painting the rest of their batch. Or maybe I'll just get this one batch done and do the others when they get here. I'll figure it out. One way or another, I'm test painting my spearman first.

One thing that I really don't like doing, but am still zealous about, is cleaning the models. Gah, I hate mold lines. However, they do really look tacky on the models after they've been painted, and the methods I'll be using will actually accentuate any mold lines, so I'm being super careful. The most obnoxious - I had one of the Citadel Guard with mold lines over the wing detail on his helmet. Removing them while keeping the detail was a challenge. The next most obnoxious was a mold line down the middle of the face of one stance of the plastic rangers. Getting rid of it while keeping the facial detail was another pain.

Ah, well, I'll get the test model painted and then I'll review how I've done.